Love Actually
by Anwa
Summary: Chandler Bing had the world on a string. Great paying job, great girlfriend, great everything. Then the world just came crashing down. ON HOLD
1. One

_**Love Actually**_

"_To me, you are perfect."_

_(Mark, Love Actually)_

* * *

The world was a confusing place to Chandler Bing. One second he was on the top of the world, and then, BOOM, he's right back where he started. Right at rock bottom. Sure, getting fired wasn't exactly on this 'to-do list', but what could he do? Besides beg for work, he was already doing that.

To make matters worse, his _loving_ mother had dumped his kid brother on him years ago, something about going to Europe for a couple of months. The funny thing was, she never came back. Sure, she wrote a very impersonal letter telling both of them that she had met someone in Paris and she was going to stay there. Unfortunately for Chandler, that meant his brother would be sticking around forever and ever. Another thing that was never on his 'to-do' list.

And then there was the matter of his love life. He thought he had met the girl of his dreams with Kathy, and she in turn had found the man of her dreams. The only problem was, Chandler wasn't that guy. It was some rich eye doctor, twice her age, named Richard, Richard something. He really didn't care to remember. In fact, he would have rather drank both of them away, but with Landon around, he found that kinda hard to do. He was playing 'Father' now instead of his more preferred role as 'much, much older, independent, big brother'. Make that 'drunk and distant big brother'.

So there he was, stuck working as a waiter in a local coffee place, 'Central Perk'. He used to hang out there all the time, but now, instead of drinking coffee, he was serving it. Strangely enough, he had become quite found of the 'spit in the coffee' routine. Well, okay so it wasn't strange to him really, especially when serving it to his best buddy Richard. The man had to nerve to try and make small talk with him once, what kind of idiot tries to make small talk with the ex-boyfriend of the girl your currently dating, who, strangely enough, cheated on her last boyfriend to be with the current love interest without losing her apartment. Funny how that works.

Man, though, did Richard deserve that coffee. And Chandler was pretty sure he got the message straight, seeing as how Richard didn't come into Central Perk anymore. Either that of he was probably too whisking some other girl away from her loving boyfriend and making his life hell.

And that's when he realized, he was as pathetic as they come.

* * *

"Chandler!" Landon yelled, walking through the apartment in search of his brother. "Chandler! I need a ride to school! I'm gonna be late again!"

"I'm coming," Chandler mumbled, half-asleep. He had worked the night shift at Central Perk last night, and the repercussions were starting to show. The other half of his day wasn't much better, he was still job hunting, and still not finding anything.

"When did you get home last night?" Landon asked, eyeing his brother somewhat amused. Chandler's lack of sleep was starting to show in his dress, hair, and face.

Chandler shot him the death glare, "I had to close last night," he mumbled, "now come on, we gotta get you to school!" He tried to sound as energetic as possible, running across the apartment grabbing his keys and a cup of coffee.

"Whatever," Landon muttered, following Chandler out the door.

Chandler tired his best not to roll his eyes at his brother's attempt to sound 'cool'. Landon was fifteen, an age where your image mattered and Landon had made damn sure of it that he had a 'cool' image. He wore baggy jeans and a graphic t-shit that was more of an advertisement for Coke to Chandler more then an image. His shaggy brown hair curled up in traditional seventies fashion, and he sported a rather cheap rite aid brand cologne. The funny thing was, Landon was better with the girls then Chandler was. Even at fifteen and looking like a moron. Then again, all the teenagers looked like morons, so it must have attracted the teenage girls somehow. How, he'll never know.

Plopping down in Chandler's sad excuse for a car, Landon immanently grabbed out his CD player from his backpack, ready to listen to the mix of the day. Chandler held up his hand, motioning for Landon to stop.

"What?" He asked, annoyed that his brother had stopped him from listening to his CD.

Chandler started up the car, "look, we need to talk."

"Whatever."

"Look, Landon, you know we are in some financial stress right now, okay?" Chandler sighed, pulling out into traffic and headed towards Landon's school just on the outskirts of the city.

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm gonna have to find a roommate for us, okay? I've cut down as many expenses as I can and it's still not enough. So, until we find a roommate, things are gonna be really tight."

"Whatda mean a roommate! You want me to live with someone I've never met before in my life!"

"Well, yes, that's sorta the plan. But there will be a lot of interviews, and of course I'll ask your approval and all,"

"Look! We wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't gotten fired! So your acting like it's both our faults, when it really your fault!"

Chandler was taken aback, "what? Since when have I been acting like it's both our faults! And I'm trying the best I can to keep things normal, but you know what, things change!"

"Whatever," Landon muttered bitterly, taking out his headphones again and sticking them on, blasting the music into his ears.

Chandler gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying his best not to knock the boy upside the head. Since when had this been his fault. It wasn't like he asked to be fired, or he asked to have his brother move in with him. In fact, if they were really blaming things on people, their mom was to blame. She was the one who left them for some French guy, and the reason why Chandler had sudden found himself 'acting parental unit' for Landon. He was late to work almost every single day and always had to leave early for this and that. That was the reason why he was fired, he was too busy taking care of everything else.

Chandler pulled up at Landon's school another fifteen minutes later, stopping the car to let him out.

"Look, I'll be here at four to pick you up, that's when my shift gets done, okay?"

Landon raised his hand up to show that he heard Chandler, but didn't bother to respond in any verbal manner.

"And you'll be on your own for dinner tonight, I've got that conference with your teachers tonight! Okay!"

Another hand gesture.

"And the world is going blow up in twenty seconds!"

Another hand gesture, although this one seemed more obscene then the others. Chandler chucked to himself, he was the big brother after all, annoying his brother came with the territory.

* * *

"So, Joey,"

"Tribbiani," the Italian man finished. He was in his mid twenties, probably the same age as Chandler, and looked every bit the part of an Italian. Dark hair, dark eyes, tanned skin, the works.

"So what do you do, Joey?"

"I'm an actor," he said proudly, "ever seen 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.'?"

"You mean like the food, yeah, it's like the best food next to pizza!" Chandler said with a smile, hoping to have actually found someone who shared his fascination with the food.

Joey smiled, "totally man! But I was talking about the TV show."

"Oh, no, sorry. But talk to my brother, he watches so much TV it's insane."

"Okay, but well, I play Mac," he said proudly, "the man character."

"Oh, really?" Chandler nodded, trying to act as though he cared. "So, do you like the Knicks?"

"Yeah the Knicks rule!"

"And what are your feelings about living with a fifteen year old boy?"

"What?"

"Sorry, my brother's living with me right now, I kinda have to ask if you mind," Chandler said sheepishly, hoping that the guy wouldn't turn down the apartment like all the others had upon hearing they'd be living with a teenager and his older brother.

"Sure, no prob. I've always wanted a brother," Joey smiled, "I had seven sisters."

"Seven!"

"Yeah, and you better not lay one finger on any one of 'em!"

Chandler raised his hands, "totally not what I was thinking," he lied.

* * *

"Ah, Rach, I'm dying here!" Monica Geller moaned, walking into the staff lounge and promptly plopping herself down on the nearest chair. It was her first day at the school, she was teaching a cooking class that was new to the school. Her best friend, Rachel Green was the one that convinced her to take the job, she had been teaching a fashion class there for a couple of years now.

"Oh, sweetie, it's your first day, everyone says that," Rachel said, not really looking up from her magazine though.

"Coming from the girl that teaches fashion! They have weapons in my class!"

Rachel looked up from her magazine, amused. "You're scared of your students, aren't you?"

"Well you would be too if you gave a bunch of immature freshman fire and said go!"

"What's this I hear about fire?" Phoebe Buffay, the world history teacher, walked into the teacher's lounge, amused by the conversation.

"I hate that class," Monica mumbled, "never again will they cook, even if it's the last thing I do."

"And what are they suppose to do then, Miss Geller? Worship you for an hour each day?" Phoebe teased her friend, knowing that it was her first day.

"They'll make rice krispies until the end of time!" Monica laughed, her day getting a little better now. Teaching might have been scary, but at least she was with her friends here.

"Have fun explaining that lesson plan," Rachel laughed, looking back down at her magazine.

"So, other then the fire problem, how's your first day going?" Phoebe asked excitedly, taking a seat next to Monica on the couch.

"Fine, I guess, I have seniors next, maybe they'll be okay with fire," she mumbled her thoughts out loud, "but I do like this better then working at that restaurant. At least this way I work with people who actually like me, and don't lock me in the freezer."

"Yeah, yeah, good point," Rachel agreed, "we don't have a freezer here that we could lock you in."

"Hey, where's Ross?" Monica asked, looking around the teacher's lounge for her brother. He taught a science class here as well, although he wasn't as popular as some of the other teachers.

"Probably fighting with some student over a grade again," Rachel said flipping another page in her magazine. "They think they can walk all over him, but they really don't know how stubborn he is."

Monica nodded, "yeah, you guys were totally not on a break," she said knowing what incident Rachel was referring too.

"I know!"

* * *

Chandler drove up to the high school, just a little before four in the afternoon, looking for his brother. Joey sat shotgun, happily singing along to 'American Pie' on the radio. The two had ended up spending the majority of the day together, really hitting it off. Chandler silently prayed that Landon wouldn't mind Joey, especially since he had already told the guy he could move in.

"Where the hell is that kid!" Chandler yelled, annoyed to see no sign of his brother.

"I donno, didn't you say his school got over like an hour ago?"

"Yea, and I told him I'd be here at four," Chandler mumbled, turning off the car and getting out. "Look, I'm gonna go look for him inside, he's probably still mad at me. You just wait here, okay?"

Joey nodded, "alright man!"

Chandler walked steadily into the building, the thought playing in the back of his mind that Landon had gotten a ride home from one of his annoying friends and was just trying to piss him off. Whatever his grand scheme was, it was working.

"Oh wow, Chandler!" A voice yelled from behind him, as a tall dark haired man ran up behind him, "Chandler Bing! I knew it! It's me,"

"Ross! I haven't seen you since, since," Chandler thought back, "well since college!" It was his old college roommate, Ross Geller, the last person he would have ever thought to see.

"How have you been?"

"Can't complain, much," Chandler sighed, "how are things? You still married to Carol?"

"Nah, she turned out to be a lesbian, and I'm not... and apparently it's not a mix and match situation," he mumbled in a very Ross-like fashion.

Chandler winced, "oh, I'm sorry man, lesbian? That must be ruff."

Ross shrugged, "so, what are you doing here anyways?"

"I'm trying to find my brother, my mom dumped him with me a couple of years ago when she met some French guy or something." Chandler shrugged, "what about you?"

"I'm teaching here now," Ross paused, "by the way, is your brother Landon Bing?"

"How many Bing's with strange first names do you know, Ross?"

"Ah, good point."

"Well, have you seen him? He was supposed to meet me at four, but ah, I can't find him."

"Always a problem," Ross commented, "but no, I haven't seen him."

Chandler shrugged, "thanks anyways man, but I gotta run. I have to go kill him, and I better do it before five so I can make the news!"

"Hey, we should hang out sometime, you know, maybe you could come over for dinner or something at my sister's. That's what we normally do anyways."

"You hang out with your sister? That's kinda weird."

"Eh, we have a lot of the same friends, there's Kip, Phoebe, and Rachel,"

"Wait, hang on a sec, Rachel as in, Rachel Rachel?"

Ross nodded, "what? I mean, we used to date, but then we were on a break,"

"We were so not on a break Ross Geller!" A very angry looking blonde woman stormed down the hallway, hearing just the last part of their conversation.

"Ah, Rachel, so kind of you to join us," Ross tired to act as normal as possible. "This is Chandler Bing, my old roommate from college, and Chandler this is Rachel."

"Pleasure," Rachel hissed, giving Chandler a quick look before returning back to Ross. "I can't believe you won't just admit it! You cheated on me!"

"We were so on a break!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Look guys, I gotta run. But it was nice meeting you, Rachel, and Ross, I'll be in touch," Chandler slowly backed away from the arguing couple who really didn't seem to notice his disappearance.

With a heavy sigh, he continued on his search running through the hallways like a madman. His major problem: They all looked alike. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking down at his watch, 4:19. If he didn't find his brother in the next five minutes, he was probably just wasting his time.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

"What?" Chandler whirled around to see a rather attractive brunette woman standing behind him, a holding a pile of papers in her hand.

"You look kinda lost, is there anything I can do to help?" She repeated herself.

Chandler smiled, "I'm looking for a student, Landon Bing. He was supposed to meet me outside at four, but he's not there and I think me might be kinda mad at me for, well you know, breathing, but I'm getting kinda ticked here."

"Oh," the woman exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, this is my fault! Hi, I'm one of his teachers, you can just call me Monica, but I caught him in the hallway and him and some of his friends were helping me out!" She said at about a hundred miles an hour.

Chandler stood there with an amused grin on his face, "first of all, slow down, breathe," he teased. "And Landon? Willingly helping someone out?" Chandler said in disbelief, "what were you offering him?" He asked, half wanting to know and the other half making a joke. He knew very well that his little brother would never help someone out of the goodness of his heart.

Monica shrugged, "no, I just saw a bunch of them hanging out, and I asked them if they wouldn't mind helping me clean out the ovens."

"Ovens?"

"I teach a cooking class," she explained.

"Oh, well that would make sense," Chandler said uncomfortably. "So are they still in there, I take it?"

"Well no, actually, they just left."

"Oh, well then. I probably should get going then," Chandler mumbled, not really wanting to leave. There was something about this girl, something special. Not to mention she was hot.

"Right."

"I guess I'll see you at the conferences tonight," he tired to make small talk with her.

"Yea, I'll be looking for you." She flashed him another dazzling smile.

"By the way, my name's Chandler," he held out his hand, finally introducing himself. She smiled, taking his hand and shaking it.

"It's nice to meet you, Chandler."

"You too."

"Come on, man! We've been out there like fifteen minutes waiting for you!" Joey ran down the hallway towards him, Landon in tow. He walked up besides Chandler, noticing the pretty brunette he was talking to. "Hey how you doin'?"

Monica smiled, "I'm fine, thanks. Well, you better run, Chandler, it was nice meeting you though." She turned and walked back down the hallway, towards her classroom.

"You too, Monica," Chandler called after her retreating figure.

Joey smirked, "dude!"

"Dude what? I was just talking with one of Landon's teachers, she was telling me why he was so late."

"You like my teacher!" Landon teased, "that's hilarious!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Oh my god, I'm not doing that."

"Are too!"

* * *

_Well I've been working on this story just on my computer and I figured why not just post it? I haven't had the pleasure of having four in-progress fics at once before! lol. _

_Anyways, feedback would be agian appericated a lot (again), because well, yeah, it just always is. _


	2. Two

_Okay, here's the second chapter. Seeing as how I would usually comment on the reivews I've gotten here and I posted the first four chapters all at once...that kinda leaves me at a problem, eh? _

* * *

Monica scooted into her classroom, trying to remain as calm as possible. It wasn't like she had actually cheated, that would include a lot more then talking. But she had feelings. Not to mention that she had just flirted shamelessly.

But why was it bothering her so much? It wasn't like they had a make-out session in the middle of the hallway or something. She had just spoken with the guy, he was looking for a student, she had to talk to him. It was unavoidable. She shouldn't feel guilty. She wasn't cheating on Richard. And even if she told him, he wouldn't be upset with her. Because it was nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

She walked over to her desk, plopping down on her uncomfortable chair and tossing the folders on to her desk. 'Let's just think about something else,' she thought to herself, trying to keep her mind busy. 'This chair is really uncomfy, it's so itchy, I mean, who makes an itchy chair?' She mentally slapped herself,

"I'm thinking about a chair, I have now gone officially insane."

Rachel walked into her classroom, "no, Mon, those chairs are really itchy, but you might be on to something with the whole crazy thing. I mean, most people don't talk to themselves in dark classrooms, especially about their chairs." She teased, turning on the light and walking over to her friend. "Now, what's up?" She pulled over one of the desks, sitting on the writing surface and leaning in closely.

"I was nothing, I was just talking to some guy, he was looking for Landon Bing," Monica mumbled running her fingers through her hair and trying to act as normal as possible.

"And this guy brought about a chair thinking session," Rachel said slowly, mocking her friend's excuse. "Was he hot? What was his name?"

"Well considering the fact that you thought my brother was hot, I think we have slightly different tastes in men."

"You're avoiding the question, Mon."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Dammit! I'm not doing this again!" Rachel shouted, still angry with Ross for earlier. They had argued for a good fifteen minutes before some students interrupted them. Needless to say, the students left with enough information to feed the gossip mills for a good couple of months solid. Hell, she'll probably still be hearing about it next year.

Monica laughed, "sorry, I forgot that was yours and Ross's favorite argument," she teased.

"Is not!"

"Rach," Monica gave her a look.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, habit." Rachel paused, then looked back over at Monica, "so are you gonna tell me what happened or is it one of those things I gonna hear about tomorrow during class?"

Monica smiled and shook her head, "I just feel like I cheated on Richard." Rachel gave her a confused look, not understanding what her friend was saying. "I had feelings for that guy I was talking too," she said sheepishly.

"Oh, Mon, that's not bad at all! That's totally not cheating, it's like," she paused looking for the right phrase, "not cheating!"

"I just feel awful, cause Richard is just y'know just wonderful, and here I am flirting with some guy I met in the hallway! Hell, that very well could have been his son he was looking for." She paused, gasping, "oh my God! I might have just flirted with a married man! That's like double cheating!"

"No, no, Mon, it's not. And it was just flirting, so what? I flirted with tons of guys when me and Ross went out." Rachel shrugged, "probably because Ross can't flirt, isn't romantic, and is a cheater, so y'know."

"WE WERE ON A BREAK!" Ross shouted from the hallway, hearing what Rachel was saying to Monica.

"WERE NOT!"

"WERE TOO!"

"WERE NOT!"

"WERE TOO!"

Monica tried her best o suppress her laughter, they were doing it again. They always had the same argument, and it always ended the same way, the 'were not' 'were too' argument. Although it proved to be completely pointless for both Ross and Rachel, it was extremely humorous to watch.

* * *

"So, I hear you're Chandler's little bro," Joey tried to strike up a conversation with Landon on the ride home. He was going to be living with the kid and all, they probably should know each other just a little.

"Yep."

"So, you're a sophomore, huh? Pretty cool, I remember my sophomore year in high school," he said with a dreamy smile, "the senior chicks totally dug me."

"Really?" Landon looked at Joey with interest, trying to see what woman would find so attractive about the man.

"Yeah! I mean, who doesn't like a little bit of Joey lov-"

"JOEY!" Chandler yelled, cutting him off before he could finish what he was saying.

Landon looked at his older brother amused, knowing exactly what Joey was about to say. "What, Chandler, are my ears too sensitive for that kind of information?" He said sarcastically, "you treat me like I'm just some dumb kid, well I'm _not_."

"Umm, so, I hear you're studying math, math is cool, I love math," Joey tired to settle the tension in the car, changing the subject to something else. Something that couldn't get him into trouble.

"I'm sure you do," Landon deadpanned, before taking out his headphones and sticking them on.

"So ah, you guys are gonna both be on your own for dinner," Chandler decided that it was time for him to act. Landon had to listen to him, he fed the kid, and therefore he always had the upper hand. "And I was thinking how 'bout I order a pizza and get some more pop and you guys can just hang out, kay?"

"Pizza?" Joey smiled, obviously in love with the idea. Chandler shot him a look, "oh, oh, and bonding! That will be so cool!"

"Whatever, do I have to pay?"

"Do you ever pay?" Chandler asked, getting rather annoyed with his brother's attitude. Actually, he had been annoyed since day one and he never really thought he could go over that, but, well stranger things have happened.

Landon shrugged, "sure, whatever, I'll bond with Joey."

"Joey," Chandler gave him a stern look, "no beer, no girls."

"Sure, I can handle that," Joey shrugged, "no beer, no girls," he repeated, a little sadder this time.

"Joey,"

"Okay! Okay! No beer and no girls what so ever!"

"Good."

* * *

Chandler pulled out his best work suit, hoping that nobody would notice. He would never live it down if Landon realized what was going on. He was crushing on his little brother's teacher. There were so many things wrong with that, especially since he was his legal guardian for the moment.

He looked at himself in the mirror, trying to make his hair look so what presentable, but not look like he was trying. He just had to find that happy medium. He was wearing a navy blue suit, a white shirt, and a striped reddish tie that Landon had given him for Christmas. Apparently it was youthful or something. And apparently being twenty-five was old now or something.

"Ooh, got a hot date tonight do we?" Joey walked into his room, holding a slice of pizza in one hand and a coke in the other.

"What? You actually got a date! Amazing!" Landon ran into the room, standing behind Joey, although he carried the entire pizza box.

"First of all, I am not completely un-dateable, second of all, I am going to that conference; I'm just trying to make a good impression on your teachers so that they won't know you're horrible until later in the year. And third of all, why the hell are you carrying around that pizza box! Can you not stand to separate from it for one second so you can come and make fun of me? Or do you think that it might run away?"

"Actually, I think it's more of the first one," Joey mumbled in response. Chandler shot him an annoyed look before continuing on.

"Okay, guys, I'll be back in a couple of hours. No burning anything, fire is bad remember that, and no girls. Got that?"

"Yea, whatever," Landon mumbled, walking back into the living room with the pizza box.

"Hey! Come back here with that!" Joey ran out after Landon, angry that he had now taken the pizza box hostage.

Chandler inwardly gave a sigh of relief, they actually bought his excuse for the suit. He just had to divert their attention back to rules, that always bore Landon right out of the room. And from what he knew of Joey, he'd follow the food. He turned his attention back to the mirror, continuing to strive for his look of 'not trying too hard but still looking good' look.

He had one chance to get this right, and he was dreading it. He was never so great under pressure, and the fact that his old college roommate was there as well really didn't help the situation.

* * *

"What's up with you today, Mon?" Phoebe asked her friend in between conference times. All the parents were to follow their students schedules and the teachers were to give a small introduction to the class and tell them about themselves. The first group of parents had already come through, and they were just waiting for the second group. The first half of the alphabet. And for some reason, she was hoping he would be there.

He was too young to be a parent, but he was definitely related to Landon Bing. Their eyes gave away their relation. And every time she thought back to those eyes, she would mentally slap herself. She was in love with Richard, not this mystery guy. For all she knew he could be his father, and just look really young. And really hot.

"Mon?" Phoebe repeated herself, pulling her friend back to reality.

"Oh, hi, sorry," Monica mumbled, "I guess I'm just nervous."

"Of what? We've already been through the first round, if anything it's easier the second time through."

Monica nodded, not really listening to what her friend was saying. Not that she didn't care, it just was of no use to her. Sure, she felt bad for lying to her, but she felt even worse for thinking about him. She should be thinking about Richard, not the other way around.

"Look, we gotta run, but you'll be fine I promise!" Phoebe smiled before running back into her classroom. Monica sighed outwardly, taking deep breaths as she walked back into her classroom.

She walked up to the front of the room, surveying all the parents in the group. He wasn't there. And she didn't know where to be disappointed or happy. At least this way, she'll never know.

"Okay, let's get things started," she put on her best fake smile and fake cheerfulness as she addressed the room. "My name is Monica Geller, this is my first year teaching, but I have been a chef for several years before I opted for teaching. Um, I'm originally from Long Island, but I do live here in the city. Anything else you'd like to know about me?"

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Chandler burst though the doors into her classroom, panting like a madman. "I got hung up in traffic, but I'm here now!" He smiled at Monica, glad to see that she smiled back as well.

"Mr.," she paused, looking for a last name.

"Bing," he finished, "I'm Landon Bing's older brother and currently his guardian," he said answering her question for her. Without thinking, she inwardly smiled; he was still on the market.

"Alright, Mr. Bing, I'm glad you could join us," she smiled, becoming noticeably more calm then she was when she started off.

Chandler nodded, taking an open seat in the front.

"So, since you have no other questions for me, I'm gonna go on!" Monica smiled, trying to keep her eyes from straying back to Chandler. "This class is a cooking class, the students will be required to cook, although currently I have some classes banned from using fire," she paused in thought for a moment, thinking back to her first half of her day. "Anyways, we will be covering different types of food, but mainly it's just the basics of cooking. And that's the class! Any questions?"

Chandler raised his hand, "Mr. Bing," she smiled motioning to him.

"Umm, so, what exactly is the, umm," his mind thought desperately for a question, "grading system? How are the students graded in this class!" He tired to act as normally as possible, although his nervousness was really showing through. Even he knew that.

Monica nodded, "ah, good question, the students are graded on mainly participation and the completion of tasks, secondly on tests and quiz scores, and thirdly on just showing up for class."

"Oh, okay," Chandler nodded, "that sounds good." He mentally slapped himself for that statement, wondering why he had even said it. Now he sounded like an idiot and a complete loser hitting on his little brother's teacher. As if he couldn't get a date anywhere else. Which was true, but the whole world didn't need to know that.

"Any other questions?"

* * *

About another hour later, the presentations where finished and the parents began to disperse. A couple stuck around to ask more questions of teachers, but nobody ever stuck around to ask questions about a class like cooking. It was rather self-explanatory.

For some reason, Monica decided to stick around for a couple of minutes after presentations, just in case. To keep herself busy, she cleaned up the classroom to her insane standard, then packed up her belongings.

"Hey Monica," a familiar voice greeted her, coming behind her and grabbing her waist, "how ya doin'?"

"Hey Richard," Monica tired to hide her disappointment, she had really hoped she would get to see Chandler again. She turned around and gave him a quick peck on the lips, before returning back to desk.

"You didn't answer my question? How you doin'? I haven't seen you all day, and I wanna know how your first day went!"

"It was," she paused looking for words, "fine."

"Fine? Is that code for like 'it was awful' or 'I hate my job' or something. Because let me remind you who's idea this was in the first place," he teased.

"I know, I know, this was my idea, and, no, I am not having a horrible time. It was just another day, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It was just, fine."

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, no, there's nothing wrong. I'm fine," she said a bit too quickly.

"Oh come on, Mon, I know there's something! What's up?"

"Look, I already told you, it's nothing."

"If it's nothing, then why are you getting so defensive?"

"I'm not being defensive!"

"Hey Monica, I hope I'm not," Chandler stopped dead as he walked into the classroom, "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a guest. I'll go," he mumbled quickly.

Richard whirled around to look at Chandler, an amused smile on his face. "Chandler Bing! Well I'll be!"

Chandler stopped dead, he would have known the voice and fake laugh anywhere. "Richard," he finally made out, trying not to gag. "What a surprise."

"How do you know Monica?"

"My brother's in her class, I was just coming to ask her another question before I left," he glared daggers at the suave older man, wishing a thousand painful deaths on him.

"Oh really! You have a brother? Wow. I never knew that! How nice of you to go to your brother's parent," he stressed the word 'parent', "teacher conferences."

"How do you two know each other?" Monica finally asked, breaking the tension in the room.

"Richard here," Chandler said with sickening sweetness, "dated my girlfriend Kathy."

"Oh, well, that doesn't sound so bad? I mean dating your ex, that happens to everyone!"

"While I was still dating her," Chandler gritted his teeth.

"Richard!" Monica scolded him, "I can't believe you would ever do something like that!"

"Well, I didn't mean to, it just kinda happened," Richard tried to explain to Monica. "Chandler's blowing this way out of proportion. Really, I'm not the one he should be mad at."

"Oh, don't think you're the only one I'm mad at bucko, Kathy isn't exactly on my Christmas list either."

"Oh well," Richard searched for words, "so, your brother is in Monica's class. And Monica is now my girlfriend. How ironic is this?"

"Ironic really wasn't how I would put it," Chandler muttered, "more like someone's sick joke or something. That Big Guy Upstairs has really had it in for me these past couple of years."

Monica smiled at Chandler's little joke, "well, what can I help you with, Chandler?"

Chandler shifted uncomfortably, having not prepared a question. In fact, he was really just over there to flirt more with her, find out more about her. He couldn't get her out of his head, and now, it was even worse then him crushing on his little brother's teacher. He was now crushing on the girlfriend of the girlfriend stealer Richard. "I, erm–forgot."

She smiled, "it's okay, how about if you remember it, come and see me and I'll try and help you out, kay?"

"Kay," Chandler said slowly, hoping that neither Richard or Monica really realized why he was there. Richard could totally kick Chandler's ass, and Monica, well she had a boyfriend, and it would be laughable later.

"It was nice seeing you again, Chandler," Richard tried to act as nice as possible.

"Yeah, whatever," Chandler mumbled using one of Landon's favorite words. He turned around, raised his hand up, and walked out the door just a little more heartbroken. It probably just made it worse that Richard was the one, again.

In fact, it would probably become a pattern now. Every girl that he even talked to would date Richard before Chandler even had the chance to get to know them. It would be like his curse or something. The curse of Richard. Richard what's his name. Yea, that's it.

* * *

"Yo, man! Some guy's on the phone, say's he was your roommate in college, Ross or maybe Russ something," Joey walked into Chandler's room, holding the phone in one hand and a beer in the other.

"Eh? What does Ross want?"

"Want me to get rid of him?"

"Nah, hand it over," Chandler motioned for the phone. It had been weeks since he had seen Ross Geller in the hallway, it had taken him that long to come to terms with the whole Richard thing. He had now come to understand that there would be no woman out there for him and that he was doomed to live alone, or at least with his kid brother until the end of time.

"Hey Chandler! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you!" Ross greeted him happily, "things have just been really crazy for me."

"Oh, it's okay, no problem, man. So, what's up?"

"Well, you wanna hang out? I mean, we can go get some coffee, there's this really great place down by my sister's apartment, not far from you."

"You know where I live? What are you a stalker or something?"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, man. Nah, I've got the school directory here, that's how I got this number. Anyways, it's called Central Perk, how about I meet you there in like a half hour?"

"Really? Cen-cen-central Perk? Huh."

"Yeah, you know of it?"

"You might say that."

"Why? What? You've lost me."

Chandler sighed, "okay, alright, I'm kinda in between jobs right now," he mumbled, "and that's where I'm working until I can get a better job."

"Oh, hey, that's no big deal man! Come on! Everyone's had a job like that once in their life! Come on! You have to take care of your brother for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, yeah, good point," he mumbled, "so I'll see you there in a half hour?"

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye!"

* * *

_Please Review. _


	3. Three

"Sounds like you were on a break to me," Chandler shrugged, "I don't get what her problem is, I mean, I've see that copy house girl and, whoa."

"I know! And she won't get over it! It's been what, like two months!"

"Two months, huh? And you're still arguing about it?"

"Yeah, she won't let it go. Well at least I now have you on my side, Kip secretly on my side, although I think he's secretly on Rach's side too, along with Pheebs, actually I think all of my friends are secretly on both of our sides."

"Wow. You have great friends."

"Eh, they're really not all that bad." Ross took a sip of his coffee, "hey, you wanna meet them? They're all right upstairs, I'm sure they're all just hanging out up at Mon's!"

Chandler set down his coffee cup, "eh, I donno. I mean, I would feel weird there and all. I mean, from what it sounds like you guys are really close."

"Oh, come on! Like you don't have any friends."

Chandler looked at him, "well," he said slowly.

"Oh my god."

"I sorta tuned out from my friends after I broke up with my girlfriend, I really didn't like them anyways."

"Oh, wow. That makes me wanna be your friend all over again."

"Hilarious," Chandler deadpanned, "okay, why not, I'll meet your friends. And I betcha within ten seconds, they'll hate me!"

"How long ago did you break up with your girlfriend?"

"Eh, about a year and a half."

"And you're still like this?"

"Ross, she cheated on me with another guy, who I just happen to run into all the time. My dad was gay and now has a show in Las Vegas called Viva Las Gay-gas. My mom is a slut, and stuck me living with my brother who just happens to be a fifteen-year-old boy. I'm gonna be like this for a long time."

"Good point," Ross commented, putting down his coffee and standing up.

* * *

Ross led Chandler up to apartment number twenty, both talking and laughing about their times in college, mostly about Chandler's flock of seagulls haircut, but still about college and their time as roommates.

"Hey!" Ross greeted everyone, pushing open the door without even bothering to knock. Chandler just shrugged, apparently nobody locked their doors anymore. "Okay everyone, this is Chandler, he was my roommate in college."

"Hi everyone," Chandler held up his hand looking around the room at all of their faces.

"Okay so there's Kip, he's my roommate now," he motioned to the only other guy in the room, "and there's Phoebe, and you already know Rachel. Hey guys? Where's Mon?"

"I told you already! The flowers have to face the headboard!" Monica walked out of her room, her arms flying up into the air like a mad woman.

"Hey Mon, I want you to meet my old college roommate,"

Monica looked up and over at Ross, recognizing the man that stood with him. "Chandler," she whispered, not sure if she wanted to even believe it was him.

"Hey, Monica," he whispered back, holding up his hand in an awkward wave again.

"Monica! I'm sorry," Richard came out of her room, dressed in a robe, "oh my god."

"That's it, kill me now," Chandler mumbled, half amused, half waiting for someone to come and beat him a top the head with a baseball bat.

"You three know each other?" Ross asked, the rest of the group looking between the three.

"Yeah, I guess," Chandler mumbled, "I met Monica at the conferences," he turned to face her, "and your Ross's little sister, damn! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Well, ah, that might have been because I didn't know that you knew Ross."

"Well, that explains it," he mumbled, "and Richard, my good buddy here, Richard who I love to death. You remember that girlfriend I told you about, right, Ross?"

"Yeah, Kathy or something."

"Well meet the infamous girlfriend stealer!"

Ross paused for a second, then it clicked. He gasped, "no! Richard!"

"Must we tell this story to every person we meet, Chandler?" Richard asked from across the room, annoyed by the current situation.

"Umm," Chandler paused in mock thought, "yes."

"Am I the only one who is totally lost?" Phoebe asked the remainder of the group. Kip and Rachel nodded, then they turned their attention back to the four.

"And I still can't believe you did something like that, Richard!" Monica hit him across the chest again, "that is so mean!"

"You make me sound like some sort of bully!"

"Richard, you do realize that the only reason she continued to go out with me when you came along was that she lived in my apartment. She didn't want to be kicked out! Talk about kicking someone in the nuts!"

"No kidding man!" Ross patted him on the back, showing his support.

Chandler sighed, and turned back to face Ross, trying to keep back all of his bottled emotions and not kill Richard. "Look, man, it was great seeing you again, and meeting all of your friends. We should do it again sometime, I think it's just best that I leave."

Ross nodded, "I'll give you a call sometime, we can hang out with that roommate of yours, Joey or whatever."

"Sure, whatever," Chandler nodded, "it will be like guys night in, or whatever. I'll give you a call, kay?" He turned to face everyone else, avoiding eye contact with both Monica and Richard, "it was nice meeting all of you, see ya around." He turned and made his way towards the door, feeling all of their eyes staring at the back of his skull.

Monica ran over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, "no, wait, you shouldn't have to go."

He shook his head, offering a slight smile, "if I don't go, I'm gonna kill your boyfriend. Do you really want that?"

Monica paused for a moment, now just pleading with him with her eyes. "You don't have to,"

"Yes," he cut her off, "yes, I do. Landon's probably doing something illegal by now anyways." He smiled faintly, "bye, Monica," he opened the door and walked through it, closing it before she could say another word.

She put her hand up over her mouth, trying to justify in her mind what she had just done. He didn't have to leave, she didn't want him to leave. "He didn't have to leave," she whispered to no one really.

"What the hell was that about!" Richard yelled, throwing his arms into the air.

"I can't believe you cheated, Richard! That's awful!" Rachel was the first to lash out at him, throwing a pillow across the room and hitting him in the head.

"Yeah, the poor guy. Has his brother to think about," Phoebe mumbled, taking pity on Chandler, "and when he thinks he's found love to only have it ripped away from him when he thinks he still has it. That's horrible!"

"Yeah, I agree man," Kip sighed, "even with my standards, if their dating another guy who does not know that their girlfriend is cheating, or they're married, their off limits."

"Look, can we get back to the real problem here!" Richard glared at the three, "Monica! You ran after that guy like some lovesick puppy! I can't believe you! And you three sit here talking about cheating, well at least I didn't do it right in front of Chandler!"

"He didn't have to go!" Monica yelled back, tears filling her eyes. She didn't know why she was getting so emotional about the whole thing, it really shouldn't have bothered her, but for some reason, it just had gotten under her skin. "I can't believe you made him leave!"

"He left on his own, Mon," Ross explained, putting a hand on his sister's arm, "and as much as I hate to say it, Richard did not make him leave."

"Yes, yes he did! Do you realize why he left! He was uncomfortable! Richard made him uncomfortable! And you know why! Because this was the guy that stole his girlfriend away! And I don't wanna be with a person who would do that to another person! I mean, how do I know that you're not still seeing this Kathy girl now!"

Richard darted his eyes, avoiding contact with anyone in the room. He cleared his throat, "Mon, Mon, you have to calm down."

Rachel gasped, "oh my god! That girl! She wasn't your niece was she!" She pointed her finger at him, standing up slowly, "you told me that girl was your niece you were having lunch with that day! And when I saw you later on the subway with! And at the store!"

Monica covered her face with her hands, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she mumbled over and over again, becoming hysterical. "I thought you loved me?"

"Well I do! But,"

Kip cut him off before he could say another word, punching him square in the face. "I can't believe you man!" He yelled at him, watching as Monica ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Get out! Get out of my apartment!" Rachel screamed, her finger now pointed at the door, "get out!"

Richard covered his nose with his hands, "wait,"

"What don't you understand about get out! You bastard!" Phoebe screamed, running over to the door, and opening it for him. "GET OUT!"

* * *

Chandler sat in his chair lazily, his coat and tie thrown haphazardly behind him, and a full beer enclosed in his hand. Just seeing him again made him so angry, especially with someone like her. He didn't deserve her, she seemed so nice, so pleasant, so wonderful. She was driving him crazy, and he had only talked to her for a few minutes, and yet, she had been the only thing on his mind since the day he had met her.

In fact, he silently thanked God that Landon had suddenly decided to become a nice person and stay late to help her out. Or else he wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting her. Then again, his spirits where once again crushed by the harsh reality that was Richard, but still, she was incredible. He would never wish that he hadn't met her, not in a million years.

"Yo man, pizza's here!" Joey chimed in, walking into the apartment, Landon behind him. The three of them had been living off take out for quite sometime now. It seemed that all of them were horrible cooks, and it was just easier for them to order food then to pretend to like the food they had made.

"Eh," Chandler mumbled, "toss me a slice."

"What's with him?" Landon asked, walking over to his brother and waving his hand in his face, "it's like he's dead or something. Cool!"

Chandler gave him the death glare, "I'm fine."

"He's totally crushing on someone," Joey garbled through the pizza in his mouth. "Ooh! Ooh! I bet it's that teacher girl we saw you talkin' too, isn't it!"

"Oh, yeah! Ms. Geller!"

"You knew her last name was Geller! Why couldn't you have told me!"

Landon gave him a look, "why did it matter? She's hot, therefore, clearly not interested in you."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. She's the little sister of my old college roommate, Ross Geller!"

"Oh! You mean you used to room with Mr. Geller the science teacher! That is like wrong, dude! He's a total loser!"

"Hey! Hey! That's one of my friends you're talking about there!" Chandler looked over at Joey, "and by the way, me, you, and Ross are all hanging out together sometime."

"Really? Science dork? I don't think so, Chandler."

"Oh come on! He's not that bad really! And besides, I promised him we could all hang out!"

"Why'd you do such a thing!"

"Because I was desperate to get out of there!" Chandler confessed, tossing his arms into the air.

"And why would that be?" Landon asked, hoping to get some really good dirt to use as blackmail for later. He never missed an opportunity to obtain new blackmail–he had a field day with the whole third nipple fiasco.

"It was nothing," Chandler mumbled, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"When you say 'I'm fine' more then once, it generally means that your not fine," Joey shrugged, taking out another slice of pizza.

"Good point," Landon agreed, walking over and taking another slice of pizza as well. Chandler was starting to regret their whole bonding time he had put them through. Now they were ganging up on him, and he could no longer use the excuse that he was the oldest, therefore he was the smartest.

"Just give me a slice of pizza," Chandler mumbled, motioning for someone to hand him a slice, not willing to get out of his chair.

"Whatever, man, get your own," Joey laughed.

_Knock, knock._

"Got it," Landon said, walking over and opening the door. "What's," he stared in awe at the person out in the hall, completely forgetting what came after the 'what's' in his greeting. "Oh my god! Ms. Geller!"

Chandler turned his head, his attention now fully held. "If you kidding, I swear I am going to kill you, Landon. I do hold that power, and no court is gonna rule against me."

"No, dude! He's not joking!" Joey smiled brightly, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

"You wanna, wanna, wanna come in?" Landon asked shakily, holding open the door as wide as it would go.

Monica nodded slowly, stepping inside. "Can I speak with Chandler, alone?"

"Sure!" Joey yelled, grabbing Landon by his arm and the pizza in his other hand and ran into the nearest room, then gave Chandler a thumbs up sign before proceeding to slam the door behind them.

Chandler pushed himself out of his chair for the first time in a couple of hours, and walked towards her. She stood in the kitchen, moving her hands uncertainly, and switching her weight from foot to foot. "I look like hell, don't I?" She mumbled, self-consciously fiddling with a piece of her hair.

He shook his head, "no, you could never look bad," he said truthfully. "What's up?"

She wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears before they fell all the way down her face, "Richard," she paused, trying to keep her composure but she was slowly losing it. "He, he, he's still with Kathy."

Chandler watched her as she began to break down, not sure if he should grab her and hold her, or if he should say something. He didn't know what to make of the situation"€ all he knew was that it was taking an act of God to stop him from holding her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to turn to, I just, I just, I didn't know. And I found out after you left, and somethings were said, and I didn't know who to turn too!" She ran over to him, putting her arms around his waist, "I know that I just met you, but, but,"

Chandler smiled faintly, putting his arms around her frail body, and rubbed her back softly, "I've been there, and none of your friends have," he finished for her. She nodded, crying softly into his chest. Chandler just held her, rocking her slowly back and forth, trying to calm her down, even just a little. "Do your friends know you're here?"

She pulled herself away from him, dabbing her eyes with a tissue she held in her hand. "No," she mumbled, "none of them know where I am."

He smiled faintly, "you wanna head back, or do you wanna stick around here for a little while?" He grabbed her the box of Kleenex to his right, holding it up in front of his face.

She shrugged, "they're gonna be so pissed at me," she mumbled, half-laughing.

"So, you wanna throw caution to the wind and stick around here to tell me what happened?" He questioned hopefully, "oh! I know exactly what we need!" He jumped a little, running over to his freezer and pulling out two things of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, "I went through like twenty of these last time, now I'm well prepared, y'know, just in case."

Monica smiled, "just in case some crazy girl you barely know shows up with a sob story."

"Of course! How else do you expect me to meet women?" He laughed softly, pulling out two spoons and handing her a carton. "So you wanna tell me what happened?"

"What about your brother and that other guy with the pizza?" She asked, grabbing the carton from his hand and opening it up. It was brand new.

"Eh, Joey and Landon? They'll be fine. They have the pizza."

"Good point," she laughed, "okay, I'll tell you." She smiled, digging into her ice cream, her tears almost completely forgotten.

"All right, continue."

"Well, I found out that Richard is a lying bastard,"

"I already knew that one," Chandler interrupted and Monica gave him a look, "but this was your first time, so I'll let you continue without interruptions!"

"Anyways, he's still with Kathy, if that makes you feel any better." She dug into the ice cream harder, as if trying to kill it with her spoon. "So when I found that out, we kinda broke up, and I locked myself in my room, and then I stuck out, and now I'm here!"

"Well, if you want, you can join my 'I hate Richard' club, so far we only have one member, but I was looking into expanding."

"Hell, we might have a couple more members too. Kip punched him in the nose, and my friends kicked him out of the apartment. In his underwear. I'm really hoping they took pictures."

Chandler laughed, "now why didn't I think of that!"

Monica smiled, "because you're just not very smart," she teased.

"Ow,"

"Deal with it."

"You know what, you're mean when you have ice cream."

"I'm sorry, it must be the cookie dough that's doing this to me. How can you ever forgive me?"

"Well," Chandler laughed, "it's okay. You should have seen me when I broke up with Kathy. Didn't come out of my sweatpants for weeks."

"Sweatpants?"

"Yeah, you know, it's a three step process."

Monica looked at him, "care to elaborate?"

Chandler rolled his eyes, "you know, first step is the sweatpants, then after that step two is going to a strip club and getting unbelievably drunk, which in turn leads to step three, imaging yourself with other women."

Monica laughed, "you actually do all of that!"

"Uh, yeah. Talk to your guy friends, it's how we all do it. They'll tell you, first step: comfort zone, i.e. my sweatpants, second step: strip club, and third step: imagining yourself with other women."

"Men are idiots."

"Did you happen to forget you're in an apartment filled with men?"

Monica shrugged, "eh, no court would side with you especially since I can work the whole depressed and vulnerable angle." Chandler gave her a look, waiting for a better answer. "And I'm a fast runner."

He smiled, taking another huge scoop of his ice cream. "So, you're my old roommates little sister, what are the chances of that?"

"Apparently possible, but I wasn't gonna say anything. Might ruin our luck."

"It's funny, I heard so much about you in college, and then the one time I go to visit you guys at Thanksgiving, you didn't come home that year."

Monica shrugged, "I know, it was a bad year all around. But I guess now I get to meet the infamous Chandler, without my parents interfering." She sighed, "they are gonna be so angry that another relationship didn't work out. You'd think after Ross married a lesbian that they might have a problem with marriage, but no."

"I still can't believe Carol was a lesbian, that's hilarious!"

"Yeah, it does make a good story, doesn't it?"

"So your parents are really," he made the motion of him ringing an imaginary person's neck, "y'know?"

Monica nodded, "it's crazy. They favor Ross so much more then me, and he's the one that goes off and marries lesbians!"

"Well, hey, if it's any consolation, I think you're great."

"What?"

"No, no, I mean it. You're pretty, you're smart, you're funny, you have a lot going for you. You shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure there's someone out there for everyone."

Monica raised her eyebrows, "you've had a lot of time to think that load of bullshit out, haven't you?"

Chandler shrugged, "yeah, I have," he smiled a little, "I was in my sweatpants for over two weeks after Kathy, I had to think about something. Especially after we ran out of ice cream."

"Dude! Can we come out now!" Joey whined from behind the door, apparently the pizza had run out, "we've been in here for like twenty minutes!"

Monica raised up her wrist, stealing a glance at her watch, "oh my god, I've been here that long! Their gonna freak!"

"Yeah, Joe, Landon, Come on out!" Chandler called back, grabbing his coat off the floor, and Monica's from the hook. "Come on, I'll walk you back," he offered, handing her the coat.

Monica smiled, "really, you don't have to. I mean, it's a pretty long walk, and we really just met, I'll be fine."

"Nah, come on, we losers gotta stick together."

"You mean, us members of the 'I Hate Richard' Club gotta stick together," she teased.

"I should really start up a club, I mean, we have what like six members so far? I mean, I'm sure Joey would join in a heartbeat, and that would make seven! That's totally enough for a club!"

"Well it seems like you two have had some fun out here," Joey said with mock seriousness, "how come you didn't invite us out for ice cream, man! We were dying in there!"

"Hey! You guys got the pizza, we were left to our own devices."

Joey gave him a look, "well, whatever." He looked over at Monica, "by the way, I'm Joey, we met before, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled timidly, "I'm Monica, it's nice to see you again, Joey."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Geller?" Landon asked, trying to pull himself back into the conversation.

"Course, Landon! Second hour!"

"Don't stay out too late," Joey teased, noting that both parties had their coats on, "I'll wait up for you."

"Translates into, I want details," Chandler interpreted for Monica.

She laughed, "well I gotta run you guys. It was nice seeing you all again!" She waved, and her and Chandler walked out of the apartment.

"Damn, how does he get so lucky!" Joey cursed, "she's so hot!"

"Ah, dude, she's my teacher."

"Yeah, so? I know you think she's hot. It's okay, I had a crush on like ten of my teachers in high school."

"Really? So it's not weird?"

"No man! She's hot!"

"I know!"

* * *

"You know, you didn't have to do this," Monica reminded him as they both walked hurriedly through the city. The brisk late fall temperatures where starting a bit early this year, but the leaves were a colorful array that made up for the bitter cold.

Chandler rubbed his hands together, before sticking them back in his front coat pockets, "would you rather me leave you here?" He teased, "it's getting kinda dark out, New York City streets,"

"Oh shut up," Monica rolled her eyes, her too shoving her hands into her coat pockets, wishing she had the foresight to at least bring a pair of gloves, if not a warmer coat.

"So, Monica, seeing as how we're stuck together for at least the next twenty minutes, tell me about yourself."

She smiled faintly, "well, I went to Lincoln High, up in Long Island, where I spent the majority of my days being ridiculed terribly, and then after graduating left for the city at my first possible chance and went to this great little culinary school here."

"Lincoln High is really that bad, huh?" Chandler mumbled, remembering some of Ross's horror stories from back in college. "I see he did finally hook up with that Rachel girl, though. Couldn't stop talking about her in college, I really started to hate that girl after awhile."

Monica chuckled, "I take it you fell victim to one of their arguments. The school has been plagued by them during after hours since they hired Rachel a couple of years ago. Hell, even during hours."

"Well, I did meet your parents once, so that's over with," Chandler teased, "I think they disliked me for some reason though. Wouldn't leave me unsupervised, kept asking me the strangest questions, hell, I didn't wanna go back there!" He paused for a moment, then added, "now, I might reconsider, seeing as how I could have an excuse to come and bug you," he teased.

Monica smiled, "trust me, if you were visiting and I happened to be there, we would both be cornered by my parents and could continue our complete misery on another field."

"Ah, we're the misery gang! Don't get in our way, or we'll drag you down with us!"

Monica laughed, "you're a complete idiot, you know that right?"

"Eh, it works for me."

"So, Chandler, now that you know a little about me, let's hear about you. I've only heard a couple of things about you from my brother, but, well, you know, it's Ross."

"Good point," Chandler laughed, "well, my parents have an interesting relationship to say the least, making my childhood full of fond memories of Christmas's spent with butlers and maids paid to be there, and birthday parties gone pornographic due to my mother and her current flame."

"I'm sorry," Monica mumbled, not sure how to respond to something like that. "It must have really sucked."

Chandler shrugged, "eh, it could have been worse. At least we now know that misery isn't something new for me, huh?"

"But still, that must have been awful," Monica looked at him sadly, "so I take it your parents are divorced."

"To say the least," he chucked, "saying they absolutely despise each other would be an understatement."

"What happened?"

Chandler shrugged, "maybe another time, huh?" He looked at her sadly, as much as he wanted to open up to her, he knew he shouldn't. Because she was going to leave him like all the rest. Eventually that's what it all came down too.

"I'm sorry, we really just met, I must be pressing too much!"

Chandler shook his head, "no, don't be sorry."

She shook her head, "no, Chandler, I am sorry."

"Your stubborn, did Ross ever tell you that?" He changed the subject smoothly, making a little jab at her so that she would go off on that.

"I prefer strong willed!"

Chandler chucked, "I take it you've had this argument before," he teased, she glared at him. "Sorry," he smiled, "so, you're a teacher now, how's that working out for ya?"

"I've learned more then the students have learned, does that tell you anything?"

"Learning? In a school? What is this madness?"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny."

"Seriously, what have you learned from your students?"

"Important life lessons such as, don't give freshmen fire, and never leave the room while your students are armed with raw eggs."

"You gotta be kidding me," he chuckled, "they pulled my egg routine! I can't believe people are still using that!"

"Hilarious," she deadpanned, "you're a real funny guy, aren't you Chandler Bing?"

"I'd like to think so," he said with mock seriousness.

Monica stopped, turning to face her apartment building. She exhaled quietly, smiling at how she could already see her breath so early in the year. "Well, I guess this is it," she sighed.

"Yea, guess so," Chandler mumbled, trying to come up with anything interesting to say whatsoever.

Monica looked at him hesitantly, "unless you wanna come up?" She asked softly, Chandler looked at her, his mouth open in surprise. "Y'know, my friends are gonna be there, all of us could hang out together or something."

He smiled faintly and nodded, "I've love that," he lied. Hang out. With friends. As friends. Only he could be so lucky.

Monica smiled, "alright then, let's face the beasts!"

"You certainly love your friends, don't you?"

"Eh, they're okay."

"Well I certainly can't wait to be your best friend!"

She chucked, "doesn't everybody?"

He laughed, following her up the couple fights of stairs joking and laughing. They talked like they had known each other forever, although, they had known of each other for quite some time now, it was just the matter of meeting each other. But the laughter stopped as soon as they appeared at her doorway. She could hear her friends inside, apparently having found out about her disappearance.

"You can't hide from them forever," Chandler tired to encourage her, "don't worry, they won't be mad at you. They'll just be glad your safe."

She shrugged, "I could get new friends," she teased.

He smiled in amusement, "you're quite the character, Ms. Geller," he mused, pushing open the door for her. Did no one lock their doors in New York anymore?

"I'm back!" Monica called into the apartment, as her friends all rushed towards the doorway. Kip jumped over the couch, Monica visibly winced at this but shook it off as due to the fact that he was concerned, Rachel fell out of her chair, jumped back up with an 'I'm okay!' and ran over, Ross ran out of her bedroom, slipped taking Phoebe down with him. Needless to say, they were quite the sight.

"So this is what they mean by a Kodak moment!" Chandler announced, watching as the scene unfolded.

"Aw, they were concerned," Monica cooed, her voice reeking sarcasm.

"Isn't just the cutest thing," Rachel said angrily, holding her hand to her butt in an attempt to stop the throbbing pain that was now shooting through it.

"Sis! Where have you been!"

Monica pointed behind her, "at Chandler's," she said slowly, "sorry, we lost track of time."

"It was the first official meeting of the 'I hate Richard' club. We voted on some serious issues, and decided to go against all who dare wear mustaches!" Chandler laughed hesitantly at his own joke, trying to break the ice.

"Thanks for taking care of her, man," Ross directed at Chandler, "even if your activities were questionable."

"What's questionable about hating Richard?" Monica asked, pulling off her coat and hanging it on the rack. She walked into the apartment, taking a seat on the couch, "it's actually quite normal after a break up like that."

Rachel walked over to her friend, pulling her in a warm hug, "I am so sorry, Mon! I should have said something! He said that was his niece!"

"It's okay, Rach, you didn't know. And besides, I'm gonna be okay."

Phoebe rushed over to the couch, joining the hug, "I'm so sorry, Monica! I should have kicked his ass!"

"Well, I did punch him," Kip offered, taking a seat on the oversized chair.

"Hey! If anyone gets to kick Richard's ass, it's me!" Ross declared, taking a seat on the armrest on the oversized chair.

Chandler stood in the background, not sure what he should do. Monica had invited him to quote "hang out" with her and her friends, but they were all so close. How could he get in the middle of that? It was probably best that he left, they'd never notice anyways. He smiled faintly, he'd done his job, Monica was home safe. So he turned and made his way back out the door.

"Hey Chandler, it's okay, come on over!" Monica called him over, noticing that he was starting to leave. "There's some room on the couch, or you could sit on the floor."

He offered a small smile, "you guys sure? I mean, I wouldn't want to intrude."

"No way, man! Come on over!" Kip waved him over, "here, you take the chair. I'll sit on the floor, no use putting guests on the floor."

Chandler held up his hand, "no, it's no problem, you don't have to move." He took of his black coat, resting it on the backs of one of the mismatched chairs surrounding the kitchen table. Then he made his way over, taking a seat on the floor and resting his back against the entertainment center.

"So, you're Ross's old roommate, huh?" Rachel started off the conversation, "I bet you two reeked a lot of havoc during college."

"To say the least," Chandler said with mock seriousness, "I mean that Ross, what a wild child!"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, man," Ross glared at him.

"Actually, we did go to a lot of parties," Chandler explained, "I think Ross met Carol at one of them, he was kinda drunk and I was kinda busy."

"You sound like a great friend!" Monica teased, remembering their conversation from earlier.

Chandler smiled, "I guess we're just made for each other, huh?" He teased, "seeing as how we are both really crappy friends!"

"Did we miss something?" Rachel asked, looking between the two.

"No, no, it was stupid. We were just making stupid jokes on the way home," Monica explained.

"Okay," Rachel said slowly.

"So, Pheebs, how's your relationship going with that guy you met the other day in the coffee house?" Kip asked, changing the subject, not wanting to know anymore about the stupid jokes.

She smiled, "well, we're gonna go out tomorrow night!"

"What's his name again?"

"Joey, Joey Tribbiani, he's an actor," she giggled, "can you believe it! I'm gonna go out with Mac from Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.!"

Rachel blinked a couple of times, "Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.? As in like the food, Mac and Cheese?"

"Nah, it's some TV show he was on," Chandler explained for her. Everyone turned and looked at him, "what?"

"How'd you know that?" Phoebe asked, "oh my god! You're like physic or something aren't you! Okay! Okay! Tell me what I'm thinking right, right, right now!"

Chandler shook his head, "no, no," he tired to keep down a laugh, "Joey's my roommate. He seems strangely proud of that TV show, but my reaction was to the food too, so you know."

"Wow, you know like everybody don't you?" Kip asked, becoming slightly annoyed by this new comer. He was too close to Monica for his liking.

"Eh, small world," he mused.

"I still can't believe you're Joey's roommate! I've heard so much about you!" Phoebe exclaimed happily, "you have like a little brother or something!"

"Yeah, Landon, my mom dumped him on me a couple years ago. And I told you that this morning, remember?"

"Oh, do you guys like not get along or something?" Ross asked, ignoring Chandler's last comment. He pushed himself out of his chair, and made his way into the kitchen.

"Well, it's like the typical sibling stuff, plus the fact that I'm a lot older and his primary care giver, so, in fewer words, he hates my guts doubly."

"Ooh, ouch man, that must suck," Ross said grabbing out a beer from the fridge.

"Oh, come on, he can't hate you!" Rachel reasoned, "I mean, sure I might have not gotten along with my sisters growing up, but I didn't hate them!"

"Umm, Rach," Monica held up her hand, "you kinda did. I think you're exact words were, 'oh my god I hate my sisters'. That makes it pretty clear."

"But still! It's not the same, Chandler's taking care of his brother!"

"Umm, Rachel, right?" He asked motioning over to Monica's blonde friend, "did you like your parents growing up?"

"No! Of course not! Every kid hates their," she paused, "oh."

"There it is!"

Chandler smiled as he watched the long time friends laugh and talk with each other, saying things here and there when needed. It was a nice break from the usual torment of his apartment, not that he disliked Joey or Landon, well, maybe Landon a little, but Joey, he loved that guy. It was just that everything in that apartment had a memory stuck to it. Places she had sat and talked with him for hours on end, often feeding him those lies about how crazy she was for him. Places they had made out, eaten, hell, his bedroom was a room of nightmares remembering all those nights they had spent together.

This was just nice for a change. Not having to think about her for even a moment. Just laughing and having a good time with some new friends.

His eyes caught Monica's, they seemed a little brighter now, but she still didn't have her sparkle back. She was still hurting, and no matter how hard she tried to cover it up with laughter and smiles, her eyes always gave her away.

Her eyes met his, and she offered a small smile. Chandler smiled back, hoping that his face was turning red. He sighed heavily, maybe just a bit over dramatic, but a sigh none the less. "Well, I gotta get heading back." He pushed himself off the floor, taking a look down at his watch. It was nearly midnight. He was gonna have a hell of a lot of questions to answer when he got home.

"Chandler, you got money for a cab?" Monica asked, remembering that they had walked all of the way here.

Chandler looked like a deer caught in headlights. Why he had never thought of a cab was beyond him. He reached in his pockets, and just as he suspected, lint. He knew better then to check his wallet, he knew very well it contained buttons and a condom. No use showing that to the world. "Umm," he mumbled, "it's okay! I'll just walk!"

"Oh my God, are you stupid or something!" Rachel yelled out, "it's like midnight, you know who's wake and walking around the city at midnight!"

"Yeah, man, it's like a good half hour walk to your apartment from here," Ross agreed, "why don't you just crash over at my place?"

"No, really, that's okay. It's no biggie, I'm gonna get like fifty questions already from the peanut gallery. Let's not add fuel to the fire, okay?" He offered a smile to everyone, walking over and grabbing his coat form the kitchen, ignoring their protests.

"Chandler! This is stupid! Just call up your roommate and brother and tell them your crashing over at my place!" Ross yelled at him, "anyone who's up and walking around outside at this hour is up to no good."

"No, maybe they're all just trying to walk home from a night at a friend's apartment," Chandler offered one of his infamous sarcastic comments. "And besides man, I've seen your apartment, where the hell am I supposed to sleep?"

Kip looked at Ross, "he's got a point, y'know. I mean, we don't exactly have a couch or anything. We have a couple of chairs. Not exactly great sleeping material."

"How about you just sleep on our couch?" Monica offered, "I've slept on it loads of times, although, the majority of which I was drunk, but I still woke up feeling fine," she paused, "minus the couple hangovers from hell."

Chandler smiled, "really, Monica, that's okay. I mean, we just met like today? Are you really sure you would want a stranger staying over in your apartment? For all you know I could be like a cereal killer or something."

Phoebe laughed, "hell no! You couldn't carry off the cereal killer look if you wanted too!"

"Do you know many cereal killers, Pheebs?" Kip asked, giving her a look.

"I was killed by one once!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Chandler's eyes bulged, "and this happened, in your, I don't know, past life or something?"

Phoebe rolled her yes, "umm, yeah, what did you think I was talking about? I mean, it's not like I'm a ghost or anything!" She made wavy arm motions and what where supposedly spooky noises.

"Alrighty then, this has been fun," Chandler pulled on his coat, and made his way back towards the door.

"Chandler, wait!" Monica yelled out to him, "don't go!"

He stopped, his hand in midair, "but, I don't,"

"You wouldn't be intruding, I just don't want to see you get hurt, okay? And besides, now we can have our second official meeting of the IHR club."

"IHR club?"

"I hate Richard, of course!"

He laughed, "oh! Why didn't I think of that!"

"Well, if past actions, or even almost actions, have anything to do with it, you're an idiot," Ross stated jokingly.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny man," Chandler looked back over at Monica, "so what do ya say, ice cream or shots?"

"Hmm, let's decide that later," she smiled, "now you better call your apartment, tell them what's going on, and then come back over here and hang out with us some more!"

He smiled faintly, taking off his coat again. "Alright then," he said.

* * *

_Please Review._


	4. Four

Monica watched her class with minimal interest. The vodka shots might not have been such a grand idea last night. She had forgotten what it was like coming to school with a hangover. Her and Chandler had spent most of the night talking, sharing sob stories, and doing shot after shot of vodka. Both trying to forget.

Kip, Ross, and Phoebe had left soon after Chandler rejoined them. Claiming that they all had jobs to attend in the morning. For Ross and Phoebe this was true, but Kip, well she knew better. He had been acting so strangely the entire night, for the man that used to love to talk up a storm and be the center of attention, he was so quiet last night. Maybe he was just tired, or upset about something. Hell, she was probably just imaging the whole thing. She had tendencies to do so, especially after a night of heavy drinking.

"Ms. Geller?" One of the sophomore girls came up to her, looking at her closely.

She tired to put on her most convincing smile she could mange, hoping her eyes weren't so bloodshot anymore. "Yes, Sarah?"

She pointed to the doorway, "he's been there for like fifteen minutes, calling out your name." She said with a minor hint of disgust.

Monica's eyes followed her arm, over to the very last person she wanted to see. It was Richard. He stood with a bouquet of pink flowers, looking rather distressed. "Richard!" Monica yelled out, much the surprise of her class.

"Monica, I'm, I'm,"

She jumped out of her chair, "just keep working on those ingredients, class!" She yelled as she ran over to him, grabbing his arm as harshly as she could mange. "Talk to me outside." She mumbled, pulling him outside of her classroom and closing the door quietly behind him.

"Mon, I'm so sorry, Mon, I dumped Kathy this morning because I realized how much of an idiot I am for ever letting you go!" He whispered to her, his eyes looking down on her lovingly. "Here, I know their your favorites," he handed her the bouquet of flowers, "and I came to say this one thing, so just hear me out, okay?"

Monica glared at him, "what the hell are you doing here, Richard?"

"Don't do this, Mon, I love you! That's what I came here to tell you, I'm head over heels in love with you!"

"Shut the fuck up, Richard! Don't you care even for one second about the fact that you cheated on me! I can't trust you! How the hell do I know that you're not lying to me right now!" She yelled, her anger boiling over from the other day.

"You've got a hangover Mon, you don't know what your saying," he tired to reason with her.

"No, you're the one who has the problem, Richard!" She yelled out, tears brimming on her eyes, "you don't listen to a word I say."

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't Richard. Because, if you did, you'd understand that right now, I hate your guts. I couldn't think lower of a person if I tired."

"But,"

"Leave me alone," she said bitterly glaring at him with such a pure hate.

"Just give me a second chance!"

Monica shook her head, still trying to keep her tears from falling. It had been so simple before. She thought she was in love with such a wonderful man. "Goodbye, Richard," she mumbled, walking back into her classroom, the flowers down at her side.

"Monica! Wait! Please! I love you!"

She slammed the door on him, not wanting to hear another word. She class stared in shock at her, apparently they had heard either part or all of the conversation. She sighed heavily, wiping away a couple of tears from her eyes, and walked back towards her desk. Making sure to deposit the flowers straight into the trashcan.

"So, how is everything going?" She forced a smile, trying to act like everything was okay. Her class looked back at her in shock and disbelief. "Alright then, let's continue on with our lesson."

* * *

Rachel walked into the dark classroom, seeing Monica's figure sitting alone in the darkness from the hallway. She walked over to her friend, kneeling down besides her and putting a hand on her arm.

"Mon, you don't have to pretend you're okay. That was a bad breakup, you have the right to be upset," she cooed, rubbing her hand on Monica's arm.

"I thought he was the one," Monica said almost emotionlessly, "I thought he was so perfect, and that I was so lucky to have him."

"Come on, Mon, don't do this to yourself. You'll find someone," Rachel offered a smile, trying to cheer up her friend. "Who knows? Maybe you've already found him."

"And how could that be? If I had already found the perfect guy for me, wouldn't you think that we would have been dating by now!"

"Not if something got in the way," she smiled, "like Richard. And maybe now, you'll see him differently."

"And who would this mystery guy be? Kip? I don't think so."

"What about Chandler?"

Monica looked over at Rachel, not sure if she understood what her friend was saying to her. "What? Chandler?"

"Yeah, I saw the way you lit up last night talking with him. You guys act like you've known each other forever, when you just met. If that doesn't spell out love, I don't know what does."

"But, he's just a friend. And besides, he's the acting guardian of one of my students. Isn't there some rule against it somewhere?"

"Now you're just sounding stupid."

"Well you're saying I'm in love with Chandler, let's think this through, shall we?"

"And what's wrong with him? You flirted with him the first time you met him, you defended him and asked him to stay even in front of your boyfriend, you went to his apartment when you were depressed, and you had him stay in your apartment last night!" She paused for a moment, "which, by the way, what happened to all of our tequila?"

Monica smiled, remembering the night before. "We had our first official meeting of the IHR club."

Rachel shook her head, "and you didn't invite me?"

"Sorry, you were asleep."

"No wonder you were so pissed off this morning, I thought it was just because of, well, you know, but in reality you had a hangover!"

"Oh, shut up. I can't take another aspirin for another couple of hours," she mumbled.

Rachel sighed, "well, I guess it's official. You're in love with Chandler."

"And how did we reach this conclusion?"

"All the signs are there!"

"And these signs are?"

"Don't make me list them off again!"

Monica smiled, turning her head away from Rachel, her eyes becoming glassy again. "You wanna know something funny?"

"Always," Rachel smiled confidently.

"I think I just might over take you and Ross in the gossip mills," she smiled faintly, "that's got to be a first in what, four, five years? Anyone else being talked about more by their students then the infamous Mr. Geller and Ms. Green. Lobsters at heart."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Talking to Phoebe again aren't we?"

"Well, I found it thoroughly amusing."

"Me and Ross are not lobsters. We are human beings. And Ross is stupid."

"Ah, the sounds of love," she teased, "shall I list off the reasons your in love with my brother? Or will we just let you come to your own conclusion?"

"Hilarious, Geller. Real funny."

Monica wiped her eyes, and took another deep breath. "Thanks, Rach," she finally made out, forcing a small smile on her face, "I needed that."

Rachel smiled faintly, and pulled Monica into a tight hug for lack of words to say. All she could come up with was, "You're going to be okay, Mon, you're gonna be fine."

* * *

Landon sat outside the school with a couple of his friends, once again waiting for Chandler to come and pick him up. He was late again. They all sat around in the corner that was out of sight enough to indulge in activities otherwise then the ones recommended by the school, but with a good enough view to see the entire front of the school.

"You sure you don't want a ride, man?" Jake, his best friend, asked. He was a year older then Landon, and the current school heartthrob and rebel decked out from head to toe in Hot Topic apparel.

"Nah, Chandler's really getting annoyed at that, and if I'm gonna get him to let me got to that party this weekend, I'm sure as hell gonna need him to be in a good mood."

"Your brother sounds like a real stickler for the rules," Rose snorted, taking another drag of her cigarette. She was in Jake's grade, and his long time girlfriend. They were really made for each other, both stood out without even trying. Even if she didn't have pink hair, she would have stood out without even lifting so much as a finger.

"Hey, put that out before he sees!" Landon yelled at her, knowing very well his brother's views on smoking. Or, really him smoking.

She rolled her eyes, took one last drag before pushing the butt into the ground next to her. "You so owe me, man."

"Whatever, I just wanna go to that party," he argued.

"You better," Josie threatened, narrowing her eyes at him. She was in his grade, infamous for drinking twice her body weight at any given opportunity. She had short reddish, brownish hair curled upwards messily, and was one of the hottest girls in his grade. Especially looked for when she drank.

"Why, cause you need a buddy to get drunk with?"

"You better believe it, last time I was stuck playing some drinking game with that exchange student from France or whatever."

He rolled his eyes, "you just bring the Jell-O and I'm there." Jell-O shots were the only way to get drunk at parties, they made for so many fun drinking games you wouldn't believe it.

"You guys are weird," Rose commented.

"Whatever, Landon, dude, tell us more about how Ms. Geller was at your guys' apartment last night," Jake returned to the previous conversation.

"It was nothing, she just ate some ice cream with Chandler or something. I really don't know what happened, I was stuck in my room with Joey."

"Oh! Ms. Geller got dumped!" Josie laughed at her teacher's misfortune.

"And how do you know that?" Jake asked, looking at her like she had just said the stupidest thing in the world.

"Duh, they were eating ice cream. You only eat ice cream like that when you break up with someone," Rose explained, "do you guys not know girls at all?"

"Whatever," Jake rolled his eyes, "so she's like friends with your brother or something?"

"I donno, but she was over for like twenty minutes, then they both left to go and walk her home or something."

"When did he get back?" Rose asked, suddenly intrigued.

"The next morning, he looked like he had a huge hangover, said something to Joey about tequila."

The three burst out into laughter, saying things like "Chandler got laid!" and "Chandler's the man!". Landon chose to ignore these comments, seeing as how he really did not want to imagine his brother having sex with anyone.

"Whatever," Landon mumbled, "let's move on. So Mr. Geller and Ms. Green had another big blowout again?" He asked Rose, who had apparently heard a lot of the argument.

"Yeah, it was great," she laughed, "apparently Mr. Geller gets around," she winked at them, a new round a giggles escaping everyone's lips.

"I still don't see it," Jake laughed, "Mr. Geller isn't exactly the coolest guy in the world. I mean, he's kinda a geek, y'know?"

"Apparently Chandler knows him too," Landon mumbled, "they were roommates in college or something, I heard him talking about it with Joey."

"Oh wait, aren't Mr. Geller and Ms. Geller siblings or something?" Josie asked, finding sudden amusement in this.

"Yeah, so?"

"Oh my God, this is just too funny!" She blurted, "falling for your best friend's little sister, that's priceless! I can't wait to see their blowout!"

"I don't think they're exactly best friends or anything," he mumbled, "they've just gotten back in contact. He went and hung out over at his friend's place or something."

"Whatever, dude, it's still funny," Jake laughed, "I still can't believe your brother is crushing on Ms. Geller, the hottest teacher to hit this school since Ms. Green!"

Landon rolled his eyes, "whatever, man." He looked over his shoulder, noticing that Chandler's car had pulled up in front of the school. "I gotta run, Chandler's here."

"Well give him a minute! He probably wants to go and make kissy, kissy with Ms. Geller!" Rose teased, puckering her lips and making kissing noises.

"Whatever, I'm out," Landon pushed himself off the ground, grabbed his bag, and sauntered over to Chandler's car as slowly as humanly possible. He opened the door and chucked his bag in the back seat, "you're late again, man."

"Sorry, got caught up at work," Chandler sighed, "Gunther had some sort of coffee crisis or something. I had to stay longer to cover for him. For what it matters, I think he was just getting his hair done again."

He shrugged, "whatever," he mumbled, still trying to figure out how he was going to drop the whole going to the party thing on his brother. He wasn't exactly the let's support underage drinking kind. Not that many people were, but just the select few.

"So, I'm going to be out again tonight, I'm catching a movie with Monica, Ross, and maybe Joey. So that means you're on your own for dinner. You could order something, or you might, if the mood struck you, try cooking something."

"I know, I know, because cash is tight, cash is tight," he mumbled, grabbing out his headphones again from his bag behind him.

"No, actually, the job hunt is looking better, I think," Chandler lied. He was doing no better then before, but his brother didn't need to know that. He also didn't need to know that if cash ran out, there was no crying home to mommy or daddy, tail in between his legs.

"Whatever, man, look, I needed to ask you something," Landon decided to was now or never. Seeing as how Chandler seemed a little happier then usual, he decided that now was a perfectly good time.

"Shoot."

"There's this party this weekend, over at Rose's," he lied, it was actually being hosted by a bunch of seniors she knew. "Alright if I go?"

"Rose, isn't she the pink haired girl?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing," Chandler mumbled, trying not to insult his brother's friend. It just seemed that people who dyed their hair strange colors, usually weren't too big of fans on rules.

"So, can I go?"

"Are her parents gonna be there?"

"What am I, five?"

"Landon," he said sternly.

"Yeah, her parents will be there," he lied again. He was pretty sure that no parent or responsible adult would be in attendance at the party. More like drunk college girls.

"Alright, but if you aren't home by midnight, I'm calling the cops. And you better be sober. If you're drunk and/or high, I will know. Unlike any normal parenting situation, I have extensive background in the whole identifying drunk people department which is not rusty."

"Dude, you're taking this whole big brother thing way to seriously."

"Dude, I'm all you got." Chandler said a little bit more harshly then he had intended. His hangover was still lingering a little; work had been hell that morning. No one ever respected a hangover in the workplace, apparently it was irresponsible to consume that amount of alcohol when you had to go into work first thing in the morning and he should learn to deal with the consequences or whatever.

"No, bro, unlike you, Mom and Dad still like me." Landon shot back at his brother, putting on his headphones and blasting the music before Chandler could come up with anything to say back at him.

* * *

_Please Review._


	5. Five

_Sorry this has taken me so long to get up (well actually any of my stories for that matter). I have been quite busy lately, and just haven't had the time to update. Hell, I don't even have the time to browse for updates anymore!! ::cries::_

_Again, updates will be up when I can get them up. No promises. Well exepct for I promise to update before the end of the school year. Hell, even the end of the calender year. _

* * *

Chandler sat uneasily in his chair, listening to the steady beat of Landon's music that was blasting in the other room. He sipped his beer absent mindedly, staring ahead at the blank TV screen.

"Dude, what's up with you today?" Joey asked, "You've been like that for hours!"

He shrugged, "It's nothing. You commin' tonight?"

"Yea, Julie cancelled on me," he sighed, "but that means I'm double booked for tomorrow. Julie late dinner, and I wanna say Kelly, but it might be Rae, or Susan, for an early dinner."

"Kelly, Rae, or Susan?"

He winced, "Yeah, it's hard keeping all these woman straight!"

"Kelly's the one that snores, Rae's the dark haired girl, and Susan," Chandler thought back to all of his conversations with Joey, "Susan's the cat girl, I think."

Joey snapped his fingers together, "Right! It's Lindsey!"

"Oh, she new?"

"Yeah, I just met her at the pizza place the other day."

"What about Phoebe?" Chandler asked, remembering Monica's friend from the other day.

"She's this Friday," Joey smiled.

"You mean you don't have your Friday double booked? This is the first time since you've moved in!" Chandler said with mock surprise.

Joey nodded, grinning madly, "I know! Isn't it crazy! But Phoebe's great! I can't wait for Friday!"

"Hey, you know what, how about I call Ross up and tell him to bring Phoebe along too," Chandler suggested, "I'm sure she'd love to come."

"Really?"

"Course man!" Chandler laughed, more at Joey then anything else. "I can't believe it, Joey Tribbiani is crushing on," he paused, "somebody!"

"Ah, shut up!" Joey chucked a handful of popcorn at him, the majority of which missing him, but still, it was the thought that mattered. "So, what movie are we seeing?"

"Why do you actually wanna watch it, cause I was under the impression that you just wanted to make out with Phoebe in the back."

"Funny man, especially coming from the guy that is crushing on his little brother's teacher."

"That is so not true!" Chandler exclaimed, putting his emphasis on the word 'so'.

"It so is!" Joey mimicked Chandler, chuckling a little.

"Whatever man, you wanna make out with a girl at the back of a movie."

"Ah, dude,"

"Shut up!"

Joey just laughed and continued to eat, which would probably be used lightly in this occasion seeing as how he threw the popcorn up in the air, but rarely caught it in his mouth. "So dude, how are things going with that teacher chick, Monica, right?"

"We're friends, what's the big deal?"

"Well, she must have certainly been friendly last night," he arched his eyebrows suggestively, "huh," he chuckled.

"No, it wasn't like that!"

"Dude, I can totally understand why you wouldn't want your brother to know, but seriously! This is me we're talkin' about here! Not some fifteen-year-old kid!"

"Serious, Joe. We just got drunk and traded some sob stories. That was all."

"Okay so you got a chick drunk and didn't do anything?"

Chandler nodded, "She just broke up with her boyfriend, dude."

"And? The downside to that would be?"

"Joey!"

"Hey I'm all about getting laid here, I don't know about you," he paused, then gasped, "You're gay aren't you! Oh my God! I knew it!"

"I'm not gay!"

"Then why didn't you sleep with her!"

"Joe, do you know what morals are?"

"Mor-come what now?"

"Morals, Joe, I don't sleep with women I've just met and intend to continue a friendship with."

"Do you know what a one night stand is?"

"And have you spoken to any of the girls you've done it with afterwards?"

He paused in thought for a moment, his mouth a little open. "Well," he stalled, "Well that's me! Remember I don't have morals!"

Chandler leaned his head back in his chair, "I rest my case."

* * *

Monica rushed to collect all of her things before leaving for the day. She never quite understood why she always stayed so late, then again she was easily distracted when one or all of her friends stopped by to chat.

She picked up her small briefcase full of student assignments, then grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, and scooted out of her dark classroom. She walked briskly through the halls, paying almost no attention to other teachers walking past her.

"Miss Geller!" She heard a voice call out to her heartily.

She looked up to see the Principal of the school, Charles Gumpta, standing in front of her wearing the fake smile that he addressed everyone with. "Mr. Gumpta," she smiled back, trying to hide her disappointment. She was going to be late for the movie if she didn't hurry.

"We haven't had a chance to talk yet, haven't we?" He smiled back at her, "And please, call me Charlie, you're an adult, remember?"

Monica smiled faintly, "Of course, Charlie."

"Well, how are you liking things here? I know this was your first teaching job, how goes it?"

"It's fine, and I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I do have some plans with friends tonight and I'd rather not be late," she paused, "Maybe we can do this another time?"

Charlie nodded, "Of course! Feel free in come in any time to discuss your future here."

"Thank-you, Charlie. I'll be sure to take you up on that." She put on her best fake smile, before she started off again.

"Oh and one other thing, Miss Geller," he said darkly, "Keep your personal life at home, would you?"

Monica stopped in her steps, "What?" She asked as she pivoted back around to face him.

"I don't approve of teachers bringing their love lives to school with them. And if you want to keep your job here, I would suggest sticking too that. Are we clear?"

Monica forced another smile, "Crystal."

"Good, glad we got that settled."

* * *

Monica hurried into her apartment, slamming the door shut as she breezed through. She was late. She was going to make them all late.

"Wow! Where's the fire?" Kip yelled out, amused by her antics.

"Don't you guys have your own apartment?" Monica breathed out, looking at Kip, her brother, and Phoebe with an annoyed look on her face.

"Well, we were supposed to meet here for the movie at six, which it is six-o-one now, so," Ross said slowly back to her.

"Whatever, I got held up. Stupid Mr. Gump or whatever his name his! Chuck or whatever!" She slammed her collection of papers down on her kitchen table, and ran into her room.

"Wooh, wooh, Mon, Charlie Gumpta talked to you? That's not good! He doesn't talk to any of the teachers unless they're in trouble! He's like the human version of the devil or something!" Phoebe exclaimed, her eyes bulging. "What did he say?"

"That he wanted to welcome me," Monica shouted out from in her room, "And then he told me to keep my love life separate from my work life!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kip asked, "The guy sounds bonkers to me."

"No, no, Richard came in today. Some words were said, and then I sent him away."

"Oooh, so that's what the students are all talking about, I thought I heard something along those lines, although I haven't quite perfected my teen lingo yet." Ross commented, "Damn, I can't believe you actually bet out me and Rach at the gossip mills."

Monica reemerged from her bedroom wearing a new shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans. "Alright, you ready, Ross?" She asked, as she slid on her coat.

"Pheebs is coming too, Joey called and invited her along."

"Where are you guys all going, and who the hell is Joey?" Kip asked, his tone growing agitated.

"Remember Chandler Bing?"

He nodded sternly.

"Joey's his roommate, and Phoebe's new love interest."

"You guys are spending more time with that loser?"

"What do you mean?" Monica asked, her tone defensive.

"That Chandler guy, he sounds like a complete loser. I don't see why you guys want to hang out with him so much."

"Well somebody sounds jealous," Phoebe muttered.

"Whatda mean? What do I have to be jealous of! The guy is a complete pity case, he walks around telling everyone about his brother and that girlfriend of his or whatever."

"How do you know that? He mentioned the Richard thing because I happened to be dating Richard and the topic came up. And his brother, he was just explaining."

"Yea, dude, what's your problem? If you wanna come to the movie, you're more then welcome." Ross said, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

Kip rolled his eyes, "Don't you guys get it? I don't like Chandler. He sounds like trouble to me, and annoying to boot."

"Look, we gotta go, we're late as it is," Monica said uncomfortably, "See ya later, Kip."

"Yeah, we might get some dinner or something after the movie, so I'm gonna be home late. I'll try not to wake you up, man." Ross smiled awkwardly, "See ya."

"Say 'hi' to Rachel for us, kay!" Phoebe smiled energetically, practically bouncing out the front door in her excitement.

Monica chuckled lightly at her friend's antics, "Try not to be too obvious now, Pheebs." She mused as she walked out the door, Ross in tow.

"See you all later," Kip mumbled, "Have fun." Something told them he was being sarcastic when he said that.

* * *

The cab ride was deathly silent, Monica would thought it to be death had Phoebe not been smiling, but some things you just have to overlook when drawing conclusions such as that. She couldn't help but think about that day in general. It seemed that nothing was like it was before she took this teaching job.

Before she was happy. She had Richard, and she didn't question. Because she was in love. And she had thought that he had shared that love with her, but apparently he did not only share it with her, he shared it with Kathy as well.

And seeing him, it nearly crushed her. It was hard enough the first time hearing those words from his lips, but a second time was the equivalent to ripping out her heart and stomping on it while it still beat.

Then there was the matter of Chandler. He could make her laugh, even during the wake of her broken heart. And as much as he tired to discredit himself, he had a way of saying the right things at the right time. At least to her.

"What was his problem?" Ross broke the silence, his voice angry and annoyed. "It's not like we meant to exclude him or something. Like Chandler's taking his place."

"What do you mean, 'Chandler's taking his place'? Has he said something to you?" Monica asked, her mind thinking a mile a minute.

"No, no, but he's been acting strange ever since we started hanging out with him again. I haven't seen him since college, and he was my best friend then. It's not like I'm just going to ignore him! And Pheebs, you're dating his roommate!"

"And Chandler's my friend, we get each other. I don't understand what his problem is."

Phoebe gasped, and clamped her hand over her mouth.

"What! Pheebs? What is it?" Ross asked, his tone worrisome.

She shook her head quickly, "I can't say it. I promised I never would."

"What did you promise, Pheebs? What's the big deal?" Monica asked, wrinkling her face together in confusion.

Phoebe sighed slightly, "I promised Kip."

"Phoebe, it's okay, you can tell us. We're Kip's friends as well, remember?" Ross said slowly, "I can't believe he told her something and not me! His roommate!" He mumbled at Monica angrily.

"But,"

"Pheebs, it's okay. How long did you promise him, anyways?"

She thought about it for a moment, "About five years ago, maybe."

"Phoebe!" Monica chuckled a little, "He probably doesn't even remember telling you, so it won't matter if we know as well."

Phoebe nodded slowly, "Alright, but you can't tell him I told you!"

"What is it, Pheebs?"

She looked at Monica sternly, "Mon, he's in love with you."

* * *

_Well, there we have it. The next installment in my AU Friends saga. Now, off to my math homework! Until I get distracted again....hmm....::looks over shoulder, DDR looms in the distance::...._

_Please Review._


	6. Six

_Ah, here we go, another chapter up in record time (for the non-exam time school year that is). Thanks agian to all of you guys who reviewed, I promise one of these days I'll give you guys a shout out, I'm just too lazy right now. _

_Anyways, this fic is starting to build up conflicts and such and is almost reaching it's dramatic climax. And I actually, shock, shock, do have an idea of where I am going with the story! Ah! Ah! Take that! _

_So yeah, those are my comments. I'm done now._

* * *

"What?" She breathed out, not being able to come up with any other words to say. "You're talking crazy, Phoebe. Kip, he-he-he, just can't. It's just not true."

"Monica, it makes sense," Phoebe said seriously, "He punched Richard for you for Christ's sake."

"He did that because he's my friend."

"No, Mon," Ross said slowly, "Phoebe's right, now that I think about it, it does make sense. Why else would he be so angry about you spending time with Chandler?"

"What do you mean, Ross? Chandler is just a friend, we just get each other, that's all! I don't see why everyone thinks that I'm somehow in love with the guy! I've only known him for what, a couple of weeks? A month even?"

"I don't think he sees that, Monica," Phoebe placed her hand on Monica's shoulder, "He knows that if you fall for Chandler, he can't compete."

"And why not?"

"You went to Chandler when you were upset, you didn't want him to leave, you two have many known each other for a couple of hours combined yet you talk like old friends!? Monica, what isn't there!"

"Phoebe you just talking crazy. You said it yourself, it's probably not even relevant anymore."

"I never said that."

"Well, you agreed."

"Monica,"

"Whatever, I'm done talking about it. Let's just move on, okay!" Monica crossed her arms and turned her head to face the window of the taxi. "Look, we're here anyways, let's just not talk about that anymore. You're just talking crazy."

Ross sighed, "Just let it go, Pheebs, she's not going to accept it and you can't make her." He consoled the blonde, placing his hand on her knee.

Phoebe turned and whispered to him, "But I know it's true."

Ross nodded slowly, "She'll get it sooner or later." He whispered back to her, as he slid out of the cab behind Monica.

"How much do we owe you?" Monica asked, trying to think of anything besides the subjects of Kip and love.

"Twenty-five," the elderly cab driver croaked out hoarsely. "Plus a tip, don't you try and scam me out of it lady, 'cause I may be old, but I ain't stupid."

"Here," Monica handed him thirty, "Is that sufficient enough?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "It will do. I mean, I guess my family just won't eat tonight," he shot her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

Monica did her best not to laugh at the man, "Hate to break it to you, but I'm not dumb either."

He muttered something about youth today, then inched slowly away from the corner and into traffic again.

"So where are they?" Monica asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking around her, "Do you see them anywhere?"

"They should be here, we were kinda late," Ross shrugged.

"Hey! Ross!" Chandler yelled out. He was standing next to the ticket booth, Joey smiling coyly at Phoebe and waving awkwardly in her direction, and Landon standing behind him trying to act as cool as possible. Apparently spending an evening with his big brother and several of his teachers wasn't exactly cool.

"Sorry we're late, dude!" Ross, Monica, and Phoebe walked over, "Monica was late coming back from work."

"It's okay, man. We were late too," he said intentionally leaving out the reason of why they were late. Landon would have killed him if he told all of his teachers about his temper tantrum earlier when he heard that he had to come with them in exchange for going to the party.

Phoebe walked over to Joey and planted a friendly kiss on his lips, "Glad to see me?"

"Always," Joey chuckled, "Who wouldn't be?"

"Ah, Joe, if you wouldn't mind moving your flirting session inside, or we're gonna miss the movie," Chandler commented, "And I can see one very upset teenager if we don't see the movie."

"Whatever," Landon breathed out, crossing his arms.

"Well, Landon! I'm glad you decided to join us!" Monica smiled, "How much did Chandler pay you, anyways?"

"No, no, I wanted to come," Landon blurted out, obviously being sarcastic.

"And that's why during the early developmental years, he should not have been with me," Chandler commented.

"Yea, you're right man. We don't need two overly sarcastic and bitter people walking around, do we?" Ross nodded in agreement, "I think you're the only one who could pull off that lifestyle so effortlessly."

"I had years of practice."

Monica chucked at the banter, "Alright, alright, now we're really late for the movie!"

"Hey! You see! It wasn't our faults!" Joey proclaimed, pointing at Chandler accusingly, "Ha! Ha! Take that!"

"Come on, Joe, you win," Chandler said dryly, waving everyone in behind him.

"Ha! Ha!"

"That's enough now, Joe."

The movie was a bust, letting out around seven, only two and a half-hours, but still it felt like an eternity. Landon wasn't going to be happy about that, but Chandler would deal with that later. They stood outside on the street corner, as Ross attempted to flag down a cab, which wasn't really working too well. Landon stood next to him, looking at him like he was crazy. Joey and Phoebe stood just a little ways away, engaging in a series of friendly kisses and laughter. No doubt they were talking dirty, somehow, when done in public, it was always really amusing. Chandler never really understood that.

Then he stood with Monica, just a few feet away from Ross, but thankfully enough distance from the overly happy couple.

"Sorry the movie sucked, I heard it was good," Monica said softly, almost apologetically.

"Nah, this way I got to torture Landon just a little extra."

"Cause hanging out with his brother and his teachers wasn't torture enough," Monica mused, a smile breaking her lips.

Chandler nodded and smiled, "So how have you been holding up?" He asked softly, not wanting the others to intrude.

She shrugged, "Been lower, I guess."

"Heard that you had a visitor during one of your classes, not that I have any idea who it was or anything, but I heard it was pretty ruff for you."

"Yeah, he came, even had the nerve to bring me flowers. Like that was going to make me want to forgive him. You know? Make it all better." Monica sighed slowly, "Hey, you wanna get a cup of coffee or something. I could use another meeting of the IHR club."

Chandler nodded, "Hey! Ross! Can you bring Landon to your apartment and let him hang out there for a little while?"

Landon's eyes got big as he started to make big 'no' motions behind Ross.

"Why? Whats up?"

"I was just going to get some coffee with Monica, and I don't want him being home alone this late."

"I'm fifteen, Chandler! I can take care of myself!"

"I'd feel better if there was an adult there. Besides, you can work on getting a better grade in Science, god knows you need help."

Ross smiled and turned to face him, "Yeah, it will be fun," he said slowly, "We'll do science," he did a long, slow, obvious wink at Landon who did nothing but hold up a thumbs up sign at Ross.

Chandler chuckled at this, "Don't worry, Landon. You won't just be hanging out with your teacher, he has a roommate, Skip, or Kip, or something."

"It's Kip," Monica corrected him.

"Yeah, Kip! I promise we won't be long at all. Besides, remember our deal!"

"Fine, whatever." Landon rolled his eyes again, "I'll hang out with Mr. Geller."

"Call me Ross," then he paused, "At least while we're out of class. When in class, if you could go back to calling me Mr. Geller, that'd be great."

"Way to relate, Ross!" Monica gave him a thumbs up sign, and a fake smile.

Joey walked over, hand in hand with Phoebe and wearing a sly grin on his face. "Yeah, so, we're gonna take off, and all. Have fun, you know, at whatever you guys are doing."

"Joey, Joey," Phoebe cut him off, "Enough words, they got the picture."

"Gotcha." He gave them a small and quick wave, "See ya!" He called as they both turned and walked down the street towards Phoebe's apartment.

"Ten bucks says he's getting lucky tonight," Chandler whispered in Monica's ear.

Monica smiled and chuckled, she stood up on her tiptoes and whispered back to him, "Sadly enough, it's not even the first official date."

"Oh, well, you don't know Joey. It doesn't even have to be a date."

"I can see why you don't have any friends," Monica teased, no longer whispering.

"Oh, thanks, and who might you be?"

"An acquaintance."

"Well, coming out of Monica and Chandler land," Ross announced loudly, "Me and Landon are heading out now, later dude."

"Wow, you finally got a cab, Ross, I'm so proud!" Chandler teased, "It took you what, fifteen minutes? And how long have you lived in New York?"

Ross shot him an annoyed glare, "Anyways, when should I expect you back? Nine? Ten?"

"Ten at the latest. School night."

Monica nodded in agreement, "I'm already in enough shit with the principal, thanks."

"Is that because of,"

Monica nodded, "News travels fast, I mean, you even knew about it. No doubt from Landon, but still."

He nodded, "Well, thanks again, Ross. I'll see you in a couple of hours, kay?"

"Alright, later."

"Later," Chandler held up his hand and gave the best fake smile that he could mange to Landon, who was mouthing 'I hate you' back at him.

Monica laughed as she playfully hit him, "I can't believe you actually stuck your brother with mine! He is so gonna hate you!"

"Ow," he teased, "Besides, this is way more fun for me. I mean, come on, I may be acting like a parent, but I'm still his big brother! Doing stuff like that comes with the territory."

Monica smiled, "Well, how 'bout we go to Central Perk? Have you ever been there? It's about half way between our two buildings."

"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times," he said quietly, "It's a nice place." He looked back up at her, and plastered another smile on his face. "Let's go, then, it's a good walk from here," he held out his arm, "Milady," he joked.

"Kind sir," she mused back, linking her arm in his as they started off on a slow walk down the street.

"So, the Richard thing, how have you been holding up?" He asked again, now that they were alone. Sometimes it was better to talk with only one person who wasn't focused on something else entirely, like making out.

She shrugged, "Well, I was doing alright, I mean, all things considered. I must say, I am doing better then what I thought I might have. For one thing, I match."

"Congratulations."

"Thank-you," she smiled, "But, on the other hand," she continued, "I just want to curl up in a ball and cry some more. Then I think, why should I cry over him? Y'know?"

He nodded, "But you have to be strong, you have a job you can't skip out on."

"What about you, you had a brother."

He shrugged, "Yeah, but still. He went to school a lot of the day, and was in bed by ten. That left a lot of time for me to sit there and have my own little pity party."

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess your right."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, each conjuring up what they wanted to say to the other, but neither ever saying anything. But it didn't bother them really, the silence was a nice change from their hectic lives.

"Here we are," Chandler breathed out as they walked in front of Central Perk, "It looks warm inside."

Monica nodded, "Let's take that orange couch, that's where I usually like to sit, anyways. But I always feel weird sitting there all by myself, like I'm taking up room that other people with bigger parties could use."

"You think too much, you know that right?" Chandler laughed, as they walked into the cozy coffeehouse.

"Oh shut up. At least I think of others."

"Sure, you keep thinking that," he mused, taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack besides the door. Then he turned to Monica and helped her take her coat off, and then hung it on the rack. "How 'bout you get the couch, and I'll get the drinks, kay?"

"Are you sure? I can buy my own you know!"

Chandler shook his head, "No, no, it's no problem." He got employee benefits, all the coffee he wanted was completely free, and walking up the counter and hearing his schedule recited to him by Gunther didn't exactly sound appealing. He'd rather not publicize that he worked at a coffeehouse.

"Alright," she said slowly, "I'll get the couch." She eyed him suspiciously as she maneuvered her way to the side of the coffeehouse, and eventually on to the couch.

"What do you want?" He asked loudly enough for her to hear.

"Can I get some of their apple cider?" She asked hopefully, it was still pretty early in the season for apple cider, but then again, they were already advertising for Christmas, so it was worth a shot.

"Sure, no prob," he offered another smile, and then made his way up to the counter. "Hey Gunther, can I get an apple cider, and a regular coffee for here?"

"Alright, remember you're working the morning shift tomorrow, y'know, no y'know tonight, cause y'know you're working and all."

Chandler gave him an odd look, "You know, they should just not let you talk some days."

Gunther glared at him, "Y'know I could fire you, right?"

"Yeah, but you love me so much, and you know my situation, so you wouldn't. At least not today anyways. Maybe tomorrow when you find out what I did with the coffee beans today."

Gunther handed him his drinks, "What did you do with the coffee beans?"

Chandler chuckled, "Oh, this is gonna bug you, isn't it?"

"What did you do with the coffee beans?"

Chandler just walked away laughing, of course he hadn't done anything with the coffee beans, it was just more fun watching Gunther try and find something that wasn't there. At least this way, he got entertainment for about the next week or so. Then he'd have to do something else.

"Here you go," Chandler handed Monica her cider, as he took a seat next to her on the couch.

"What we're you two talking about up there? The blonde guy seemed kinda PO-ed at you." Monica asked, taking a sip of her cider.

"Oh? Gunther? I just like messing with him."

"You know him personally? Wow. You must come here a lot." She shook her head a little, but then just returned back to her cider. "So, now that we're here, I have not gotten to know a lot about you. I mean, we talk about me all the time. Not that it's boring or anything, cause let's face it, I'm awesome, but you know, I'd like to know more about you."

"Wow, so modest."

"Like that! Why are you so sarcastic, Chandler?"

He shrugged, "I guess it started when I was little, after my parents got divorced. My psychiatrist called it my defense mechanism, then I kicked the guy in the shins. I haven't seen him since."

"So are you going to tell me why your parents divorce was so horrible in the first place?"

Chandler sighed, "I haven't even told Landon yet. He was just a baby when it all happened. Hell, he hasn't even met our dad yet."

"That's horrible!"

"Well, it's not like he even makes attempts to come and visit us. I mean, he lives out in Las Vegas, filthy rich, and doesn't even bother sending me a dime. Hell, doesn't take responsibility for his fifteen year old son." Chandler shook his head back and forth, "But then again, I don't know if I want Landon knowing someone like that."

"What about your mom? I mean, I remember you talking about her briefly, but doesn't she even care about her sons?"

"She was the one that dumped Landon on me, left for France or something maybe five or six years back. I really don't know why she dumped him on me, I guess he just didn't want to see my dad again, so she had no choice."

"And she never came back?"

He shrugged, "Who knows? I haven't heard from her except one letter declaring me his temporary legal guardian."

"That must have been hard," she commented, "I mean, you couldn't have been much over twenty, and, if memory serves me, all I wanted to do at twenty was get drunk and have fun while doing it."

Chandler nodded, smiling faintly, "I was sober for about the first two weeks, then I decided the hell with it, and got drunk. Quite liberating actually. And Landon learned an important life lesson. People with major hangovers are not your friends."

Monica chuckled, "Oh, god, I remember. Coming to your crappy job with the biggest hangover known to mankind, and getting pissed off at everything and everyone."

"Then you'd just go at it again that night," Chandler continued. "We're idiots."

"I know! And this morning, oh God, it was awful! I think I drank about enough coffee to fill the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe even the Pacific Ocean too."

"Well I drank my body weight in coffee this morning. Followed by enough aspirin to make anyone act off in the afternoon." He paused, then added with a smirk, "How bout for old times sake we get drunk again tonight?"

"Nice try, the principal is gonna kill me if I mess up even once after the whole Richard fiasco. It seems, the topic was quite popular among the students today."

"Oh, so I was told! Landon told me and Joey all about it this afternoon. Although, he used the terms 'chick' and 'dude' instead of 'my teacher' and 'the evil man'."

Monica smiled, "We really should start calling him that."

"We'll spread it around the city, might as well start a fad while we're at it."

"Oh God, now that would be wonderful." She glanced down at her watch, "You said you'd pick up Landon around ten, right?"

Chandler nodded, and she showed him her watch: 9:30. It would take him at least a half-hour to get to Ross's apartment, get Landon, and get back to their apartment. "Eh, Landon's a big boy. He can stay at Ross's right? He doesn't need me."

Monica shook her head and chuckled, "Come on, I'll come with you for reinforcements. Landon's gonna be pissed at you." She teased, as she began to collect her things.

"When is he not?"

"Maybe when you don't dump him off with his science teachers, or hell, make him spend and entire night with his teachers."

"But, that would ruin my fun, now wouldn't it?"

Monica smiled, "You right, and that is so much more important."

"Glad to know you're catching on."

* * *

_Please Review.  
Updates will be up soon._


	7. Seven

_Although that I think this fic is complete crap, I am going to finish it out of responsiblity/duty/whatever you wanna call it (I'm really blanking out on words right now). _

_Thanks for the reviews. Sorry this is taking me so long, but apart but lack of motivation, I've been kinda stuck. _

_Have fun._

* * *

Landon stared at Ross as they continued their awkward silence, both really having nothing to say to the other. Ross had started out with a "how are you liking high school" bit, but Landon had counter with a "I'm a sophomore idiot" comment. It seemed both sides were equally hating Chandler at the moment.

"So, um, Chandler must be running late, huh," Ross mumbled, "What's he like as a brother, anyways? He's a pretty cool guy, but you're his little brother, so y'know. I wasn't exactly the nicest to my little sister growing up, it kinda comes with the territory."

"You talk a lot, don't you?"

"You are Chandler's brother," he deadpanned, "There's no disputing that."

He rolled his eyes, "He's okay," he mumbled out.

"He's okay, okay," Ross repeated, half annoyed, half figuring out a way to kill Chandler without getting caught. "Well, he was different in college, you remember him back then, right?"

Landon shrugged, "Not really."

"Come on? He's what? Twenty-five? And you're what, fifteen? Sixteen?"

"I'll be sixteen in December."

"Alright, so you were nine when he left, you have to remember what he was like! I remember things from when I was nine for Christ's sake!"

Landon shrugged, "Whatever, dude, we just shouldn't talk or bond or whatever and say we did, alright?"

"Fine by me," Ross mumbled, "Let's just watch TV, that way we don't have to talk cause we seem bad at that."

"Whatever, Mr. G," Landon crossed his arms and leaned further back into his chair, obviously not interested in anything that Ross had to say or do.

"You can call me Ross, y'know," he paused and thought about that option, "Outside of school that is. Cause in here, I'm no teacher, I'm just plain ol' Ross, but in the classroom I am your teacher and you shouldn't call me by my first name, the school would have my head."

Landon just gave a silent nod to that, his eyes trained on the TV in front of him.

"You want anything to eat or something?"

He grunted a 'no'.

"Alright then, we'll just wait for Chandler," he mumbled quietly, "Where are you Chandler? I am so gonna kill you."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just thinkin' out loud about how much fun I'm having."

"Sure thing."

* * *

"Will you at least give me one answer to one question about your father?" Monica blurted out in the middle of the cab ride.

Chandler looked over at her, "Depends on the question." A tactical move on his part, it was better not to make any promises he couldn't keep.

"Why don't you want Landon to know his father? I mean, I understand he left you, but, doesn't he have a right to know?"

"Would you want to meet somebody that wants nothing to do with you?" He said dully, not even bothering to look at her. "If he cared so much, why'd he end up with me?"

"You know, he's not a curse," she reasoned, "He's a pretty good kid most days, one of the better ones considering."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, "But it's hard. I feel like a single parent, making my life become rather fucked most of the time."

"I know a lot of people who've done the single parent thing, and I don't think they think their lives are fucked. They love their children."

"Yeah, but how many of them are your close, best friends and confidants?"

"Well,"

"See. And besides, the kids are their own little mistakes. Landon is my brother, I should be beating him up instead of sending him to his room."

"Where is your mom, anyways?"

"God knows. Something tells me she's not in France anymore. She never was one for monogamy. But, she hasn't sent any message along to her teenage son, just left him in the dust with his older brother hoping things just might sort out themselves."

Monica lowered her head a little, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?"

"I've complained about my parents so much, but they're still here. My mom still calls. My father just stopped by the other night to make sure I was alright after the abysmal disaster of another one of my relationships."

Chandler smiled faintly, "Don't be. The Bings' have horrible marriages and even worse relationships. I think it's genetic. I'm okay."

"Come on, you'll find somebody!" She patted him on the knee, "How bout this! Next time we see each other, we'll rent a chick mobile and cruise the streets for some hot babes!"

Chandler looked at her horrified, "Oh god, please don't ever say those words again."

She smiled sheepishly, "It's the thought that counts," she mumbled in defense. He just gave her a stern look, "Well, yeah, maybe we won't get a cool car, instead we can just go out to some bars or something. I'll look for a new guy and you can look for a new girl!"

Chandler's smile faulted a second, but he recovered quickly. He prayed to God that she didn't notice. "Yeah," he mumbled out, "That'd be great. You can get a new guy, and I'll find a new life ruiner for me. It'll be fun."

The cab slowed down as they came to Ross's apartment, and finally halted just outside of the building. Chandler looked over to Monica for a moment, before she could notice, then back up to the cab driver.

"Well, I'll go get Landon, you can take the cab if you want. Our place is just a couple of minutes walk from here, so yeah," he offered another small smile, "Thanks for putting up with me," he handed her a small collection of bills for the cab ride.

Monica nodded, "Right back at you," she smiled. "See you around?"

He opened the cab door and stepped out, "Of course. We gotta go and pick up some chicks remember?" He teased.

Monica rolled her eyes, "That thought!"

"Sure thing," he chuckled and shut the door. He watched as the cab took off again, driving back in the opposite direction of where he was standing.

He watched the cab until it had finally gone out of sight, ignoring the sense of stupidity that nudged at his heart. "Dammit, Bing, get a hold of yourself," he muttered angrily before he turned and walked into the apartment building.

* * *

"I'm home!" Monica called as she walked into her apartment.

Rachel walked out from her room into the living room, "Hey, how was the movie?"

"A bust, but it was fun," she confessed, "I got coffee with Chandler afterwards, that kinda made up for the movie from hell."

"Ooh, getting over Richard so soon are we?" Rachel teased, as she plopped down onto the oversized chair in the corner of the living room. "And with the guy that Richard screwed over nonetheless. How Lifetime movie is this story? I mean just add in one of you having cancer, and bam! You've got quite a hit on your hands, Mon."

"Okay," she chuckled, "You know it's not like that. Chandler's just a friend. In fact, we're gonna go out sometime and find new significant others for each other."

"What? Is that code for: Me and Chandler are secretly dating?"

Monica rolled her eyes, and sat down on the couch opposite Rachel. "No! And you know it! I don't like Chandler like that! He's just a friend. Just a friend." Rachel gave her a look, "Just a friend!"

"You know when you say 'just a friend more then once' it's kinda like you're in denial, y'know?"

"JUST A FRIEND!"

Rachel raised her hands up, "Okay. Whatever you say, Geller."

"He's just a friend."

"I agreed with you, argument over."

"Just a friend!"

* * *

**_Reviews would be nice.  
Flames would suck._**


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